


Planting Seeds of Doubt

by SunWeaver



Series: Community Garden [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama to ensue, Drug Use, Friendship, Gen, I try to write comedy sometimes, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22117123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunWeaver/pseuds/SunWeaver
Summary: Being far from home for the first time, Caduceus is lucky enough to find himself in some good company. They start to become something of a project for Caduceus to want to help grow and improve, all while learning what it is he wants to pursue through university and come into his own independence away from home.
Series: Community Garden [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926310
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	1. Cats and Coffee

Standing here at the bottom of the stairs with two heavy boxes stacked in his arms, a stuffed duffle bag slung over one shoulder, and his backpack thoroughly packed on his back, he found himself dangerously sway if one foot lifted too high off the floor. If he had just had an extra set of hands to take even one of these four things, it might have been more manageable. Though if he was going to be so far from home for roughly fifteen weeks, he needed to make sure he brought all that was necessary.

Just to make matters worse, it had snowed a few days ago, so plenty of it was tracked inside and thus melted on the floor to make the stairs have just the slightest sheen on them.

Alright, Caduceus is a patient guy, so he is not about to risk breaking his neck over material possessions. He decides to first step aside and set the boxes down by the end of the railing. Surely a couple of inconspicuous cardboard boxes weren’t going to be bothered in the span of him going up to the second floor and putting down his bags.

Now with hands-free, he easily went up the stairs, long legs allowing him to skip a step now and then. His impressive height even had him ducking under a few doorways, but that was something he had become accustomed to even in his old family home. Huh, funny, this was his first time to be so far away from family, more specifically his parents. The homesickness had not yet settled in, so he did his best to not let his mind sit and dwell on it.

Looking to the key that the RA handed him at the front desk, attached to it was a plastic tag: 204. And looking to the doors lining this hallway, there were a couple of numbers that started to appear: 200, 201, 202, 203, and- _ahah!_ The key slotted right into the lock, and he opened the door to… _Talking?_

“-can just ask to switch. But. Eh, she’s alright so far. She’s pretty hot actual…” The girl with her hair pulled into a top knot petered off in talking as she caught sight of the tall, hulking figure there in the doorway. The other two, a scraggly redhead and a short green goblin, also leaned forward to see him.

After a second of awkwardly silent air to sit amongst them, “Hm, this is…” Caduceus decided to take another look at his key, “... Room 204, right?”

The silence lingered a moment on until the redhead spoke, “Oh! _Ja_ , ja it is.” That seemed enough to allow Caduceus admission in.

These were the freshman dorms from what Caduceus recalled back during orientation tours. The rooms rode that fine line between cozy and cramped, as the space had two beds, two desks, two chairs, two closets, but only one bathroom. The right side of the room looked to already be claimed by someone’s belongings: backpack sat in the chair which had a coat hung up on the back of it and a suitcase butted up against the end of the bed.

The girl sat on the opposite bed, and seeing now that the other roommate was here, she got up, apologetically waving as she did. And just when Caduceus went to put his bags on his bed, he spotted a ball of orange with brown and black spots and stripes.

“Ah, Frumpkin, _pspsp_!” The presumed owner of said cat was snapping his fingers. By no means was the cat in any hurry, Frumpkin got up and stretched out his front paws, then one back leg after the other, before finally scooching up to the edge of the bed and hopping down with the tags on his collar jingling against the little bell.

Caduceus finally then sets his bag and backpack down onto the mattress, shoulder feeling some thankful reprieve from being unburdened by a majority of his clothes being stuffed tightly in the already stretching nylon, “Sorry to interrupt,” He started as looked over his shoulder, “But… Which one of you in my roommate?”

Two fingers pointed to the cat owner, “Hallo, I am Caleb.”

“Caleb, so nice to meet you. I’m Caduceus. Caduceus Clay.” He turned around, holding out his hand and giving Caleb’s a quick shake.

“Likewise,” Caleb then gestured to the cat, “This is Frumpkin. Um. I hope cats aren’t an issue for you...”

Curiously nodding, Caduceus looked down to Caleb’s cat, seeing how he had one leg hiked up while licking his underbelly, “Oh nah, no issues. In fact, I like cats.” Caduceus stood upright again.

“... And I’m Beau, and that’s Nott.” The tough-looking one spoke up after a beat, giving Caleb a light glare as she had been waiting for him to say something, “Can’t believe you introduced your _cat_ before your _friends_.”

“You can talk, he can’t.” Caleb argued back.

When Caduceus looked to Nott, she gave a quick wave while pulling the scarf up more over her mouth and nose. Those big, long ears weren’t even able to be hidden under her winter hat.

“-Oh! I have a few more things to bring up,” Caduceus said as he strode over to the door, “I hope you don’t mind, can I leave this door open?”

“It’ll swing back automatically,” Caleb said as he got up, pulling his jacket and backpack off the chair, “Here, keep it propped open.”

Caduceus met Caleb halfway, dragging the chair all the way over and pushing it up against the door. With an appreciative nod, Caduceus hurried back down the flight of stairs and found his two boxes sitting there, though unfortunately, being disturbed. Caduceus froze there on the first landing, the sudden halt of footsteps seemed to catch the attention of who was poking into his belongings.

“Ah, sorry,” Caduceus felt compelled to be the one to apologize, hurrying down to the ground floor and butting between this person and the boxes, “Just had to leave them here a moment while taking up my things.”

Despite this guy’s stature, he still only just reached Caduceus’s chest. His appearance was pretty intense: a worn, fraying jean jacket with patches and pins, looking like names of bands and at least one with “FUCK” written in very bold lettering. This guy’s head was shaved, revealing a tattoo that curved up from the side of his neck and to the side of his head.

“No no, it’s my bad,” The man spoke, “Jus’ wanted to check, didn’t know if they were things for the staff or someone’s shit… Or bombs.”

Caduceus squat down and worked to pry his fingers underneath the bottom box, “Uh- _bombs_?”

He held up his hands, “Unidentified boxes lying around? Kinda hard to tell. People aren’t in their right minds these days.”

Caduceus finally stood up, easily able to lift them without the extra weight trying to turtle him onto his back, “Ah, sorry to make you worry about that then.” He gave a sheepish smile, “Thank you for... keeping an eye out!”

As he got up about two steps, the guy called for his attention again, “Hey, what’s your name? If you don’t mind.”

“Ah-Caduceus Clay?” He stopped there and turned his head back around to the man.

Satisfied, he gave a nod, “Alright, I’m Lorenzo. It was nice meeting you, Clay.” And then he walked back out of the stairwell.

Curious, but not deterred, Caduceus carried his belongings back up to his dorm room.

* * *

During the summer of last year, Caduceus finally landed on the decision to pursue university. He was a little late, or rather, quite a few years late. He had just barely graduated high school, so the premise of more schooling was not too appealing when he easily could take up the family business and help run the funeral home as well as carry out duties as a groundskeeper at the graveyard. It was simple enough for his liking but after sometime… He came around to the idea of college.

Without much direction, he saw the potential for discovering something new while observing majors here at Erudition Hall University. Currently undeclared, he would have to see what called to him and where it may lead. His first semester would the _spring semester_ , not your typical time to enroll, but rather than wait out another year, Caduceus took the first chance he got to register for classes and pack his things to leave.

* * *

Returning back to the dorm, he brushed by Beau and Nott as they made their way out, “Ay, good to meet ya, Caduceus.” Beau gave him a pat on the shoulder as they passed by.

“Call if you need anything, Cay-cay!” Nott said as she backed out of the doorway, “I can be out here in five minutes flat!”

“Thank you, Nott.” Caleb met her over by the door so to retrieve his chair and drag it back to its place tucked into his desk. He tried to just peek over his shoulder at Caduceus, to watch and see what it was he would be pulling out of those boxes. And the first thing he spotted was something green and leafy.

“Would you mind if I took up the windowsill space?” Caduceus asked as he held two clay pots.

“Mh, nein,” Caleb replied, sitting himself down on his bed, “If you don’t mind my cat, I don’t mind your plants.”

Caduceus smiled, that was a pretty satisfying agreement to come to. For the next several minutes, Caduceus would strategically place his collection of leafy “friends” around the dorm. Trying to keep them mostly to Caduceus’s side of the room with the exception of the few to crowd the window space and two that took space in the already limited in space bathroom. After finishing with the plants, Caduceus took to claiming a closet and hanging clothes up on hangers and putting the remaining clutter in there.

He did this all while Caleb lied back in his bed and read a book, Frumpkin curled around his head and napped happily there. With not much else to do, Caduceus sat down on his bed across from Caleb, crossing his legs as he thought of the most common question to jump into small talk that any college student could do with another, “So, Mr. Caleb, what are you majoring in?”

There was a pause before Caleb lowered the book to rest open on his chest, “Ehh-physics.” Then he lifted the book to continue reading.

Caduceus nodded, “Oh that’s interesting, what do you plan to do after graduating then?”

Another pause before Caleb lowered his book down and glanced over at Caduceus, “Best case, something to do with physics. Though, I’m not quite um-married to this major. It was just what I was good at before and I’ve kinda stuck with it for a while now.” He began to lift his book back up, constantly glancing back up at Caduceus.

“It sounds nice to go with something you’re confident in!” He continued, “I’m still deciding for myself, I never did too well with physics in school-actually, I think I had to transfer to anatomy with how badly I stunk at it.”

Caleb did exhale through his nose, a little annoyed to not get to read in peace. He finally shut the book in his hands and set it aside, “Mr. Clay, is it? Would you like to go get some coffee with me? There’s a shop I like to go to.”

Caduceus’s ears lifted, and a smile grew wider on his face, “That sounds quite lovely for a day like this. Do you know if they sell tea?”

Throwing on his old, dusty coat and tying the scarf around his neck, Caleb hummed, “I don’t see why they wouldn’t.” He slipped his feet into already tied shoes, having to pull up the counter to fit over his heel. Caduceus had yet to take his own shoes off, only concerned with picking up his jacket that he hung up in the closet. Caleb gave Frumpkin one quick rub on the head before leaving with Caduceus and locking the door behind them.

* * *

“They allow pets at the dorms?” Caduceus asked, following alongside Caleb down the sidewalks.

“Ehh, ESA.” Caleb said that to which Caduceus tilted his head, “Emotional support animal.”

“Ohh, I see.” Caduceus nodded, “Is Frumpkin trained?”

“No, he’s just very good at listening to me.” Caleb reached into his pocket, fishing out his phone, “I got him when I was still with my parents.”

“If you don’t mind me asking: where are you from?”

“Rexxentrum.”

“Ah! I’m from Savalirwood.”

Caleb tilted his head up to Caduceus, “Hm, sounds familiar.”

“It’s quite a few hours of driving, I left before dawn broke to make sure I arrived on time. Though, the RA said I was pretty late.”

“Mm, I had started to wonder if I had been assigned a roommate at all.” Caleb looked back to his phone, tapping through some screens and scrolling through a camera roll full of photos, too small and moving too fast for Caduceus to see any of them clearly, finally Caleb landed on some pictures, “Here-photos of Frumpkin when I first got him.”

Caduceus leaned in but ended up taking Caleb’s phone to pull it close enough to get a good look. Caleb’s phone screen had a crack along the side, but it seemed to remain fully functional otherwise. The photo shows a small Bengal kitten, wearing a collar and tags that looked comically large in proportion to the rest of the cat. He was clawing up the side of an old armchair. Eyes wide, ears pinned back.

He laughed as he handed the phone back to Caleb, “That little huh? How old is he now?”

“Six!” Caleb responded much more enthusiastically, “In that photo, he was only ten weeks old.” He then swiped through, “Ah, here’s another one.”

This photo now had a picture of Caleb cradling Frumpkin, in the picture, Caleb’s hair is much shorter, maybe even curlier than it appears now, and lacking the beard. The difference between Caleb from the photo to the Caleb of today felt far more than 6 years, likely to do with the beard, but there were some pretty dark circles under Caleb’s eyes too that only seemed to add to his age. Still, Caduceus wasn’t critiquing Caleb’s looks, simply observing and aweing at the touching photo, “Aw, that’s nice.”

“Yup, got him when I was 18,” Caleb pocketed his phone again, “He traveled on a plane with me, and has helped keep me sane this whole time.”

The passing chatter helped them to arrive at their destination much quicker, Caleb held open the door for Caduceus to walk inside. It was a pleasant little coffee shop, accompanied by small tables to sit at and some seating by the front windows. The wall behind the counter, where the baristas worked to grind coffee beans and brew fresh espressos, there hung a chalkboard listing out drinks and simple deli foods and general pastries.

Caleb walked up to the counter first as Caduceus mulled over the options, eyes instantly drawn to the section of “teas”. Unfortunately, the list was short, but perhaps he could default to a classic standard-

“CALEB!!” The high pitched, excited cry from across the room seemed to catch not just Caleb’s attention, but everyone else in the coffee shop. Caduceus would see a blur of blue run over and thrust her body into Caleb’s side. Which did make him stumble a moment before steadying his footing.

“Uhh-and yeah, can I get an-er, splash of milk in that?” Caleb just continued with his order, completely ignoring the blue tiefling clung onto his side.

Much like an annoying child, she just kept repeating his name all while he exchanged money with the person behind the cash register, waiting for him to acknowledge her, “Caaaleeeeeb!”

After receiving his receipt, he finally looked down at her, “Ah yes, hallo Jester.”

“Caleb! It’s been sooooo long! You left before I got back!” Jester chided him, but he seemed steadfast regardless, “I missed you!”

Sidestepping out in front of the front counter, Caduceus took the chance now to step up and place his order. All while Jester continued squeezing Caleb and her tail whipped happily. Caduceus heard Caleb sigh and say defeatedly, “ _Ahhh, I missed you too._ ”

Once Caduceus stepped away with his own receipt in hand, Caleb turned Jester's attention up to him, “Jester, this is my new roommate, Caduceus.”

She turned to look over her shoulder, then had to lean her head back and fully see him, gasping at the sight of him, “Oh! Hi!” She held up her hand to him, and perkily greeted him, “I’m Jester!”

He gave her hand a firm shake, “So nice to meet you. Take it you’re Caleb’s… Friend?”

She hummed happily at that, but a dawning realization seemed to slowly come over her face as she turned back to her friend, “Caleb, you’re not rooming with Molly again?”

Caduceus saw Caleb grimace, and just when he was going to say something, the barista from down the other end called out: “ _Jester Lover!_ ”

Jester rolled his eyes and huffed, “Hang on, we should sit and chat!”

The three of them ended up sitting down together, Jester with a peppermint hot chocolate and gingerbread biscotti, Caleb with a simple tall americano in a travel cup, and Caduceus had himself a short earl gray tea. They clustered in a far back corner of the shop.

“How was it across the pond?” Caleb asked Jester right after she scooped a spoonful of whipped cream into her mouth when he started to grin at her pausing to properly swallow, she playfully batted his arm.

“It was great! I totally recommend it,” She enthusiastically straightened her back, “Tal’dorei is such a cool place, we went to so many cool cities there! Emon, Syngorn, _Whitestone_! Ugh! I miss it so much, it’s so pretty and the buildings are all so historic-” She then interrupted herself by getting out her phone and pulling up photos, “Here! Just look for yourself!” She handed her phone right over to Caleb, “We went on a hike in a mountainous region, near Syngorn? Fjord slipped and fell into a creek, and he had wet pants for the rest of the hike back.” She giggled amusedly.

And on cue, Caleb swiped to a photo that was of the backside of a green half-orc, whose jeans and back of the shirt were entirely wet.

“He looked like he was really sweaty.”

“That’s hilarious,” Caleb said fairly deadpan, “Think you can send it to me later?”

“Of course!” She took back her phone and began to tip-tap away on it, “... Hey, so about Molly?”

And now back onto this subject, Caleb seemed to conveniently be taking a long sip from his cup, making him unable to respond to Jester.

“I’ve been trying to reach Molly, he responded to a few texts but didn’t message me back after Christmas. And I also saw he left the group chat? What happened??” She was relentless, Caleb couldn’t hold out a sip of this scalding hot beverage long enough to ultimately dodge answering.

Finally, he set his cup down and sighed through his nose, “Molly dropped out,” He looked to Jester, “Out of college.”

Jester’s jaw dropped in astonishment, meanwhile, Caduceus sat across from them, curiously listening in without much input of his own to contribute. With mouth open, she broke off a piece of her biscotti to scoop up more whipped cream, “But why?? Is he OK?” She then popped the piece into her mouth, pushing the rest of the biscotti over towards Caleb.

He eyed the gingerbread flavored treat and decided to have a piece off of it too, “I don’t know. Yasha has said he’s OK, but hasn’t told us more than that.”

Jester props her chin on her hand and pouted her lip, “Well, so long as he’s OK… Maybe I’ll try texting him again.” She pulled her biscotti back, looking at it a moment before pushing it over to Caduceus, “Oh! Here! Want some?”

Caduceus’s brows raised as he looked to the small pastry, how sweet a gesture, he smiled but held up his palm, “I’m good, thank you.”

“Aww,” she pulled it back in front of her, “I’m sorry if this has been pretty awkward for you!”

“Huh?” Caduceus seemed a little blindsided by that odd apology.

“We’re just here talking about a friend of ours you’ve never met!” Before Caduceus could dismiss that, she clapped her hands together and leaned in closer towards him, “How about we talk about _you_? I know your Caleb’s new roommate, but I wanna know more! Are you new around here? What’s your major? Do you like dogs??”

Caduceus simply blinked, mouth open to say _something_ , but stuck on the first words. He eyed Caleb for some help, but he was busy chewing on his piece of biscotti that Caduceus felt truly thrown into the water, “... Dogs are nice.”

From there, Jester would catapult into her own obsession with her dog, Nugget. And after a little more chatter, it became easier to talk more about himself. Caleb happily took a back seat and only interjected when prompted by Jester to, but they would spend a good half hour just talking.

Through the windows the sun was apparently setting already, Caleb had pitched his cup and was standing by his chair as he slowly pushed it back under the table, “As always, Jester. It has been a delight.”

Jester pitifully whined, but seeing outside that the light from the sky was dimming, she had little room to argue, “Yeaah. I guess so. I should probably head back, I need to feed Nugget and Sprinkle.” Referring to her ever-energetic calico mutt puppy and scrappy little bandit masked ferret.

Caduceus had lost track of the time through all their conversings, but after talking with someone as high energy as Jester, he was silently thankful to be reaching a conclusion to this conversation.

The three of them walked outside together, back into the brisk cold air. And just when they were to part ways, Jester seemed to make a realization and gasped loudly, “Wait, you guys! We should totally do something together tomorrow night!” Her eager grin and wagging tail were just too cute to pass up, capturing Caduceus’s and Caleb’s attentions, “How about dinner? I could invite everyone else and we can have a little late new year, start of semester celebration-and Caduceus, you can come too!”

Him? Involved with a group of friends getting together? Well, the notion was pretty generous, and Caduceus didn’t see why he should pass up the opportunity to meet more people. He smiled, “That sounds great, I’d love to come.”

In turn, Caleb nodded, “Eh, what the hell, sure.”

Jester hopped happily in place, “I’ll tell everyone in the group chat-oh! Caduceus, do you have a phone? I’d like to get your number!”

Caduceus hummed, “Um, I do.” He then recounted to her the number he had memorized, “I’ll admit, I’m a fairly slow texter.”

Jester nodded along, “Alright! Mind if I text you now just to make sure I got it right?”

“Sure.”

After a short few taps, she expectantly looked to Caduceus. There then came the sound of a shrill, electronic beep. To their surprise, Caduceus would then reach in his pocket and pull out what was essentially a small plastic block.

“ _That’s_ your phone?” Jester gawked up at him, “Wait, does it even have a…”

“What?” He looked to Jester, looked back at it, then turned it over to show. It was just a simple keypad, and the screen was monochrome with blocky, digitized text.

Even Caleb was impressed, “How _vintage_.”

Jester looked conflicted, looking from the phone to Caduceus, “... You know what? Unless it’s an emergency, how about I just text Caleb to get to you? Hm?” Ever chipper and peppy, Caduceus saw no harm in that. If anything, he preferred it, the less he had to use his phone, the better.

Finally, they would part ways, Caduceus and Caleb returning back to their dorm by the time it was officially dark out.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Caduceus would still be awake, staring up at the ceiling and while lying in bed. Having long since called home to report to his parents that all had gone well and things were looking up. Hearing his mother praise him and wish him goodnight did leave a slight ache to his chest. Only the first night and he was already catching a case of _homesickness_.

He could hear Caleb snoring in his bed, Frumpkin curled up comfortably by his side. Caduceus could see it by what little moonlight poured in through their window. It was pretty adorable. And made Caduceus just a touch sadder that he couldn’t cuddle with his plants in that way.

Maybe it was a bad idea to have a black tea so late in the day. He imagined that if he had access to a kitchen, he could brew himself some more tea to calm his nerves. At the very least, it would give him something to do while he was dealing with this insomnia.

Caduceus was finding sleep hard to come by, and lying here in the dark only left his imagination to go wild, so instead, he wanted to take a walk.

He tried to be as courteous as possible with his roommate, knowing from having to tiptoe around his siblings before, he would slip on his shoes, throw on his coat, and leave out through the door into the hallway.

It was quiet, any of the people he had passed by earlier today and saw moving their things into their rooms were all presumed fast asleep now. He carried on down the stairs and took the nearest set of doors that led outside. And to his surprise, specks of snow were drifting down from the sky. The cold, night air nipped at his ears and nose, so unfortunately, he would not manage out here for that long.

He walked along the sidewalk, willing to go as far as he could before his bones started to rattle from the cold.

Through his walk in the dark, he got to look out over the parking lot. Somewhere amongst all those cars was his own… And that’s when a thought itched the back of his mind.

Curious to know if he still had some in there, he went up to his old, trusty, and a bit rusty, SUV. Pulling the keys out of his pocket, he opened the door and sat down inside. Popping open the middle compartment, he found his tin of mints, and inside there would be a lighter, some rolling paper, and an already rolled “cigarette”.

He knew better than to smoke this in the dorms, which was evidence enough by the smoke alarm affixed to the wall in their room. Though he didn’t mind if his own car would smell of it.

For the next half an hour, Caduceus would be sitting in his car, smoking a joint, watching out the windshield at the snow that was slowly accumulating on the glass.

What a wonderful way to wrap up the first day on his own.


	2. These are (Mostly) Good People

The faint sounds of running water and bleed in of bright light to his vision began to stir Caduceus from his sleep. Just when the dreaming just started to really happen and become interesting, the night had already faded out and suddenly, it was morning. Caduceus’s eyes painfully pried open, adjusting to the bright shift of light that bounced off the white walls and ceiling. In his blurred vision, he looked down at his body, seeing down by his feet a blur of brown and black.

After a few blinks, he began to break through the haze, seeing there was Caleb’s cat, Frumpkin.

The cat walked up onto Caduceus’s legs, balancing as he went along to walk over his hip and stomach, the small paws would actually hurt some as they passed over his vital organs and up the ribcage before leaning in towards his face. Frumpkin’s nose began to twitch and Caduceus could hear small snuffles come from him as he leaned in to smell Caduceus’s slacked open mouth.

“ _Frumpkin!_ ” An insistent snap of the finger then caught the cat’s attention over to the bathroom door, beckoning for the animal to hop down off the bed and trot up to Caleb’s leg, “I’m very sorry, just a curious creature, you know?”

Caduceus couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s all good,” setting himself up, he stretched his arms while several spots in his spine popped into place. With a satisfactory groan, he rested his shoulders back down and watched Caleb click a harness on the Bengal cat.

“I am finished with the bathroom,” Caleb walked up to his closet, taking a leash off one of the many bare hangers in his closet, “I’m going to take Frumpkin for a little walk.”

A shower sounded perfect to help wake up, and from how his mouth tasted, he ought to brush his teeth thoroughly too, “Great, did you want to get breakfast together?”

Caleb latched the leash onto the back of Frumpkin’s harness, giving it a small tug to ensure it was good and in place, “Ehh, sure, so long as you aren’t sick of me just yet.”

Caduceus shuffled up by him as he slipped in through the bathroom door, “It’s only been a day, I’ve had to be around my sisters since I was born. So I think I’m good.”

With some last parting words, Caduceus closed the bathroom door as Caleb went out into the hallway, carrying Frumpkin in his arms.

* * *

Walking a cat was not as productive as walking a dog, Caleb did it more so Frumpkin could smell new things and explore before being confined to a single room dorm for hours on end. The snow from last night merely dusted the ground, but Frumpkin still seemed hesitant to really venture out into the frosted grass. With the cat staying to one spot, he looked pitifully up at Caleb.

He only gave a shrug to the animal, “ _You know how to wear the socks I have for you._ ” would be what he chides to him in zemnian.

Continuing to let Frumpkin crawl around in the grass at his own pace, jogging footsteps slowly come closer and closer along the sidewalk. Caleb paid no mind to them until the jogger clearly slowed down near them. When he looked up, he would spot a good friend, “Oh, hallo Fjord.”

Dressed in some sweatpants and a short-sleeve shirt, Fjord was panting as he pulled one of his earbuds out, “Heh, Caleb, mornin’!” Stepping over, he gave Caleb a solid pat to the back, taking a moment to reclaim his breath and swallow thickly, “S’a nice day out, is’n it?”

Caleb stared at Fjord, seeing the streaks of sweat go down his flushed face. Meanwhile, Caleb’s nose felt numb and he had bundled himself up in his coat and scarf, “... It’s cold.”

Fjord just gave a couple more pats to Caleb’s shoulder, “Warms right up when you run around for ‘bout 20 minutes.” Caleb placidly nodded along to Fjord who had a breathless laugh, “Oh hey-did’ya get Jester’s text about dinner tonight?”

“I did, I was there when she proposed the idea,” Caleb said, looking back down at Frumpkin who seemed to be curiously eyeing up the tree they were standing under.

“Good good,” Fjord started to take a few steps back to the sidewalk, “So you’re gonna be there, right?”

“Wouldn’t wish to miss it.”

“I was hopin’ you’d say that! It’s been too long, we missed you guys!”

“That’s what you get for studying abroad!” Caleb’s voice raised as Fjord continued to back away, started up his jog again.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve heard enough of that already! See you tonight!” Fjord then continued on so to not lose the momentum, he had a few more minutes before calling it in.

* * *

Returning to his dorm, Fjord was thoroughly soaking through the shirt. He had some lost ground to make up in working towards getting back into the swing of things again. A break was nice, but getting back on that horse would be a hassle.

Taking a look around the common space of the dorm, he spots his blond, half-elf roommate, having cereal alone at the small dining table by the kitchenette. He waves to them, “Mornin’ Bryce.”

Bryce waved back to Fjord while chewing.

Fjord walked on by retreating then to his bedroom. He took his phone out of his pocket finally and paused the music, truly nothing made running better than listening to some rad songs to make the experience far less bland. During the run though, he knew he had gotten a few texts, but had ignored them knowing he would get back to them once he finished.

Walking to his closet to pull out a few casual clothes to wear, he flicked around on his phone to see what messages were waiting for him. And that’s when he stopped in place.

Standing there, fisting some jeans and a t-shirt, Fjord saw a number that looked vaguely familiar. It would be the contents of the text that helped jog the rest of his memory:

“ _Good to hear you’re back home! Hope you had fun in Tal’Dorei. We should meet up sometime. <3 _”

His gut turned at that little “heart” emoji, he had half a mind to just decline her, maybe even make up an excuse that he’s swamped this semester-and that wouldn’t be too far an exaggeration, from swim practice to catching up on class credits, he was booked to his limit. There was just that awful nagging in the back of his head that knew that she wouldn’t stop and it would only get worse the more he put her off.

This decision made him have to take a seat as he tried to formulate a reply back:

“ _Thanks! It was fun. Sorry, I can’t, got too much work to do this week so I can’t_ ” - No, that left too much room for her to try and pester him later.

“ _Thanks! It was fun. Sorry, I’m not feeling up to it_ ” - Well then she would go on to ask him what’s wrong, maybe offer up something easy and fun to do instead, “no pressure” kind of thing.

“ _Avatika, I appreciate you texting me, but I only just got back and I still feel it’s too soon for us to even be talking let alone-_ ” - That was a sure way to piss her right off.

“ _No. Bye._ ” - OK… That one was harsh. They broke up, but she didn’t kill his puppy or anything. He would feel worse if he made her _sad_.

Finally, he landed on what he felt would work best: “ _Thanks! Glad to be back! I got next weekend free, so we could try for some time then?_ ”

Fjord sighed as he hit enter, suppose he didn’t have anything else planned for the next weekend anyway. He went on to look at what other texts he got-

He jumped at a knock on his door, a hallowing feeling in his stomach made him worried about what was suddenly on the other side. Though thankfully, the answer would come in that of a familiar, punkish voice: “ _Yo Fjord, you got your dick out or can I come in?_ ”

Glancing back down to his phone, he saw he had another text and it was from Beau: “ _Hope ur up, I’m swinging by in abt 10 mins to get my weights_ ”

Fjord set his phone down on his bed and went to his gym bag, “Yeah yeah, c’mon in.”

The door opened to Beau, who leaned against the doorframe as she looked around Fjord’s bedroom, “Hey man, did you just wake up or something?”

“Nah, was out joggin’.” Fjord then produced the wrist and ankle weights, bringing them over to deposit in Beau’s arms, “... And it’s good to see you too, Beau.”

“Man, we saw each other New Years, hasn’t been that damn long.” She draped the various weights over her one arm, “Ey, c’mere.” Throwing her arm out, she did pull him into a small headlock of a half hug. When she pulled away, she would look at her hand disgusted, “Aw, geez dude, take a shower once in a while?”

“I was literally about to.” Fjord said, rolling his eyes, “Hey, thanks for letting me try out the weights. I don’t know if they’re really my style, but I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, I got to try doing my exercises without them and I felt way _too_ powerful.”

Fjord scoffed, “Cause of all people, you’re the one that needs to be _nerfed_.”

She laughed at that, having him catch on, but then she yelled out “Slug bug!” and punched him in the arm, instantly causing him to wince and clutch his bicep defensively.

“Yeah man, probably wishin’ I _nerfed_ that!” She laughed as he got his revenge back by punching her in the arm back. Still, both ended up laughing together regardless of one another sustaining bruises from the other.

“Alright, it’s been real,” Beau finally began backing away, “You’re still on for dinner tonight, aren’tcha?”

“Sure am,” Fjord said as he walked Beau to the door, “Where are you headin’ after here?”

“Got training with Dairon today, reason why I need these,” She says, gesturing to the weights, “Might stop to get gas though, I’m runnin’ on empty.”

“Well alright, tell them I said ‘hi’ when you see’em.”

“No promises,” Beau grinned devilishly as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

The thermometer was reading 32˚F, which Beau could only thank god that training would be mostly contained _inside_ today. She also eyed the clock, keeping note that she already ran a few minutes behind getting distracted by Fjord, now she had to get gas with how she was running on fumes?

 _Boy, didn’t that feel relatable_?

Still, Beau pulled into the nearest gas station on the way to the gym. And unfortunately, the first tank she pulled up to had plastic bags over the handles. Gods, don’t let it be _every one of them, please_. She kept pulling in and around, eventually spotting one that didn’t and swerving maybe a little too quickly to claim it before whatever the blue van over there looked like it was planning to do.

She silently apologized to them, but she had places to be.

Popping open the fuel cap, she then loaded the nozzle in and began filling up. While her eyes should be trained on the numbers rising higher and higher, she glanced over to the convenient store. Only to then double-take as she spotted a familiar short figure. She had to keep making more and more glances over at them because she had a hunch and wanted to be sure of it before embarrassing herself and them out here in this cruddy old gas station.

And when she saw them put their brown paper bag in the basket of a familiar bicycle, Beau called out: “NOTT! HEY!!”

The goblin’s bike knocked over, some of her bagged items seemed to spill out and Beau could hear her cussing all the way from over here. After making a scramble to pick up all her things, she would look angrily over in Beau’s direction. And after placing the things back into the bicycle, she pulled it along over to Beau’s car.

“Sup, Nott.” Beau teased, releasing the pump to shut off the flow of gas into her car.

“ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME??” Nott hissed, annoyed at Beau.

“Nah, I just know what your scrawny ass looks like from a mile away.” Beau screwed back on the cap and shut the cover over it, “It’s fucking cold out, what are you doing riding your bicycle all the way to a gas station?”

“I wanted to get us some booze for tonight,” Nott patted the brown bag, “So you better be glad you didn’t make me break anything!”

“Really? Gas station liquor? And on Sunday??”

“Those laws don’t apply here.” Nott said, “And I’m still banned from the one liquor shop! The other one is all the way across the _other side_ of Zadash, so like hell will I ride my bike all the way **_there_ ** for some alcohol that we don’t even know is any **good**!”

“God Nott, really?” Beau walked around to the door of her car.

“Yes really!”

Beau couldn’t help feeling more and more pity for Nott. And against her better judgment, knowing full well the hell she might have to pay if she’s any later than she might be, she had to hesitate to get into her car to ask, “Do you, like… Want a ride back to your place?”

Nott snubbed Beau, leading her bike away, “Nope! I can handle myself just fine from here!”

“You sure?” Beau leaned on her car, “I got heating, and the bike rack on the back.”

Nott spotted said rack as she was passing by, and did eye it a moment, but ever in her own stubborn ways, decided against it, “Nah, I could use the exercise anyhow!”

Far be it that Beau tries for a third time, giving a mere shrug, “Alright. Well hey, after I get out of training, how about I swing by the liquor store and get us some good shit for tonight?”

Nott got herself up on the seat of her bike, one foot keeping her balanced as she readied to push off, “... Get us some brandy, there’s this one called ‘Gilligan’, and if you can’t find it yourself just ask the clerk because sometimes they have it in the back and just hadn’t restocked it yet!”

And with that, Nott got to pedaling away as Beau got back into her car.

* * *

_What an awful time of year to really get your driver’s license suspended_ , that’s all Nott could think as she rode her way back to her and Jester’s apartment on a damn _bicycle_. Part of her pride stopped her from hopping in that car with Beau, but what she wouldn’t give for some hot air blasting on her numbing cheeks and nose.

Her eyes kept glancing down at the paper bag, sure the booze was for later that evening, but what if she had… Just a sip… Like… Right now…?

As she came to stop at a crosswalk, she would start to reach into the bag until noticing a very conveniently placed cop car parked along the side of the road barely more than 8 feet away. And what made matters worse on discovering it, may have been the cop sitting right there, with sunglasses on and staring in her general direction.

Not breaking eye contact during the time of her hand being buried in the bag, it would slowly emerge back out, but now holding a little spongy pastry. Thank goodness she had thought to buy some snacks as well.

Though now she had to commit to being the fiend that eats a twinkie while riding a bicycle, _alright_.

She opened up the wrapping, still glancing at the cop now and then as he continued to stare (what is this freak LOOKING at??) and she took a bite-put about half of it in-all of it. She just chipmunked the whole thing.

OK, now she was left with the wrapping. And this is where it gets tricky. Cause she’s left with potentially committing another crime on her hands. There’s no trash can in the near vicinity to them, and with such flimsy wrapping, she feared it would fly right out of the paper bag. So instead… She pocketed it.

The unforgiving light finally changed colors, and Nott pushed off again, pedaling much more quickly this time.

It would be another few minutes more until Nott reached the apartments. Chaining her bike out the front, she picked up her paper bag and toted it up roughly two flights of stairs until reaching the third floor. And with a small bit of juggling, she would unlock the door and finally get inside.

“Jessie! I’m ho-ome!” Nott sing-song announced as she swung by the kitchen to put the bag up on the counter, “You’ll never believe who I saw at the gas station!”

There was the sound of a yell to come from the hallway, which was odd, and then the mad clamor of nails on slick, smooth flooring. Huh, Nott did notice a distinct lack of Nugget rushing to plow her down. It would be revealed a moment later as the bathroom door burst open, a very wet and sudsy dog would come barreling through the living room.

“NUGGET NO!” Jester ran out after.

It was too late, Nott’s fate had been sealed. The dog charged at full force and thus the tale of Nott had ended.

* * *

“AHH! DOWN! _DOWN_!!” Nott was currently pinned under a very wet dog, to which Jester hurried over and lifted Nugget right off of her, “The light, I see it…” Nott’s hand reached dramatically to the ceiling light here in the small foyer.

“Nugget! Bad, naughty!” Jester scolded as she pulled him away, “Nott I’m so sorry, I was giving Nugget a bath-I’m so so sorry!”

Nott finally sat up, from the slobber to the sudsy wet dog smell, she shook off some flecks of water, “Ah, i-it’s alright, Jester.”

Nugget’s initial hyperactive greeting began to calm and Jester huffed, “Here, Nugget. Let's go dry you off.” She scooped her arms underneath him, already thoroughly drenched herself that she didn’t care anymore, and she lifted him up with a small grunt, “Sorry, Nott. What were you saying? Follow me.”

Jester walked back to the bathroom where she was able to set Nugget in the middle of the room and grab a towel to throw over him. Nott followed to the bathroom doorway and stand there to continue talking, “Right, so I was leaving the gas station, and then some brutish jerk just yells out ‘ _HEY NOTT!_ ’ and I got reeeeal scared, nearly just _shitting_ myself.”

“Oh my gosh! That sounds so scary!” Jester was awestruck, “What happened??”

“So I went over, ready to give a piece of my mind, and what’daya know: it was Beauregard!”

Jester had been ready to say some of her most colorful choice of words but then come to the reveal all she could do was pout and roll her eyes, “ _Nott._ ”

“Right?? Honestly, I would have preferred it to be some ruthless ruffian ready to duke it out on the pavement.” Nott playfully teased.

After Nugget was satisfactory with being dry, he still gave one last big shake before trotting out of the bathroom to go rub on all the living room furniture and carpet, “Hey Nott, do you think pizza would be good for tonight?”

Nott gave it a considering thought, but the expressions her face pulled seemed to lean towards deterring from the suggestion, “Are there any other places that deliver?”

Jester got up and walked out of the bathroom, “Well sure there are!” She then walked right into her bedroom across the hall, “And even places that don’t, there are the ‘ _Unseen Carry Outs_ ’ that can get us something from somewhere that doesn’t deliver.”

Nott followed along, leaning on Jester’s bedroom door frame, “How about sushi then?”

Jester began to take off her shirt and toss it in the hamper of overflowing clothes, “Well, Caleb’s roommate Caduceus is coming over, and I don’t know if he would like sushi.”

“Do you have his number? Why don’t you ask him?”

“His phone is like ancient old, I’d have to ask Caleb to ask him.” Jester even stripped off her pants, then went digging through her closet for something new to wear.

“Oh well I can text Caleb no problem, here, I’ll ask.” Nott then pulled her phone out, already on the task. As she typed, she noticed the sound of shifting hangers coming from Jester at her closet, and peeking in she noticed the whipping tail of agitation as Jester looked through what she had, “... Everything alright there?”

Jester huffed, “Yeah, I just need to move my stupid laundry.” She marched over to the hamper, hefting it up as she walked out of her room and threw open the door of the small closet, small washroom space where their washer and dryer stacked one on top of the other. Throwing open the washing machine door, she began tossing clothes in one after the other.

“Whoa whoa, Jester!” Nott intervened, squeezing past her to pull out the clothes.

“What??”

“You can’t just throw them all together like that! You have to sort them first.” Nott draped a shirt over her arm, picking out other shirts of similar fabric or color and collecting them together, “You have some pretty whites in here, you risk dying them pink if you mix them with reds!”

Jester watched for a moment as Nott started to separate out piles for each of the clothes, “... OK, so like… You bunch them up and then put them all together in? I don’t get it.”

“Wh-no?? You wash them separately.”

“What?? But that takes a lot of time! And isn’t that just a waste of water?”

Now Nott gawked up at Jester, “... But you… Jester… Genuine question here, and no judgment whatsoever-have you ever done laundry before?”

There’s this pause as Jester awkwardly shifts from foot to foot, pulling at her own fingers as she struggled to respond, “Um…”

Nott then waved her hand over the air, “You know what? I’ll cut you a deal: so long as you handle dishes? I’ll take care of laundry. Sound good?”

Jester found a smile back on her face and nodded, “Yeah, OK! I’d like that!” She would then skip merrily back to her bedroom while Nott continued the sorting.

A buzz would soon come from Nott’s pocket and she glanced down at the text, “... Caleb says that Caduceus wouldn’t mind sushi, vegetarian rolls and rice are preferred!” She called through to Jester.

“ _Got it! Sushi it is then!_ ”

* * *

“You drive, do you not?” Caleb asked the question as he and Caduceus were bundling up in their dorm.

“I do,” Was Caduceus’s natural response, “Drove out here all by myself.”

“How many people can fit in it?”

“Enough.”

“Hm?” Caleb blinked, looking up at Caduceus a little confused while he scooped out some dry cat food.

“Uh, not including me, about three people? Maybe four if folks got really friendly in the back. And possibly five if anyone volunteered having their lap sat on.” Caduceus looked up to the ceiling as he did the mental math of bodies fitting inside his car, “Six might be where things get hairy.”

“Ah, well, I was just wondering. Fjord might drive us, but good to know you have some room to work with.” Caleb got Caduceus to chuckle at that, he finally poured out the kibble into a bowl, setting it down to a hungry, yowling cat that descended happily onto the food.

“Oh, well now _two_ people?” Caduceus winced through his teeth, “Hmm… Not so sure about _that_.”

Caleb looked up at Caduceus taking minor offense, but quick to realized after and rolled his eyes, “Har har, funny.” He had to turn his head away after catching a glimpse of Caduceus’s big, goofy grin.

It’s a short jaunt between their dorm to Fjord’s. While Caleb and Caduceus stayed at the first-year hall, Burch, Fjord was residing at one of the upper-class halls, Hulmes. They didn’t have to trudge up another flight of stairs as waiting just outside and leaned against the brick wall would be Caleb’s friend. He spotted them coming and decided to meet them halfway.

“Hey-hi-” Fjord’s eyes went from Caleb, then to Caduceus’s chest, and _then_ Caduceus’s face, “Whoa… Uh… _Howdy_.”

As was usual a response from someone taken aback by his height, Caduceus simply smiled along, “Howdy to you too.”

In the true awkward fashion of trying to clear his throat and flattening his shirt to reclaim his cool, Fjord then held his hand out, “Uh, I’m Fjord, s’nice to meet you.”

“Caduceus Clay.” He shook Fjord’s hand firmly, “Likewise!”

Beaming brightly, Fjord then stepped back and looked at the two of them, “Alright, we all set to go? Nott said she’d gotten drinks for tonight, so… Y’all prefer if I’m the _designated driver_ tonight?”

Caleb was raising no objections, though Caduceus intercepted instead, “Actually, I don’t drink, so if you would like, I could drive.”

Fjord looked to Caduceus-then looked _up_ to Caduceus, “Oh yeah? Would you mind?”

“Not a bit,” The keys jingle together as he pulls them out of his pocket, “So long as someone navigates, I should be alright.”

“Well then, by all means.”

* * *

The city of Zadash has some tangled streets, those who live here are so much more used to it or they walk and bike. Thankfully, Caduceus is very patient despite having someone behind him lay on their horn as he tried to make a turn.

“And this is why I don’t drive in the city,” Caleb remarked offhandedly as he watched out the window.

Fjord was leaning forward best he could from the middle of the back seats of the car, having been the one to point and navigate them through thus far, “Eh, you adapt to it, coming from myself who grew up on country roads, city driving is actually a lot safer.”

They only took about two more turns before finally finding a space along the street to park. It took some adjusting to make sure they were nestled up to the sidewalk, but once parked they all went up the stairs and were suddenly knocking on one of the doors.

When it opened, there appeared to be no one there, that is until looking further down revealed the short goblin girl.

“Caleb! Fjord!” She eagerly greeted, “And Caduceus.” Not as eager, but still inviting, “Come in! Beau brought hard seltzers, so help yourselves.”

Caduceus followed in after Caleb and Fjord, who took off their coats and shoes by the door next to the collection of various sneakers and boots already there. Fjord swung by the kitchen to grab himself one of the cans while calling out through the kitchen bar into the living room, “Hey Jessie, Beau!”

From the couch, Beau just waved and shouted out “ _Ya!_ ” muffled by a full mouth. And Jester was standing on her knees on the cushion, turning around to face him, “Hey!! Help yourselves, everything’s laid out on the dining table. We already got started because we were hungry.”

“That’s fine,” Fjord then looked to Caduceus who was standing around, very out of place, “‘Duces, you want a drink? ‘Sides all the alcohol, they got some sodas, milk, water.”

Nott then clarified before Caduceus could say anything, “Jester finished the milk this morning, and I spiked the cokes, but the rest you’re welcome to!” She walked alongside Caleb as he picked up a plate.

“Uhh, water’s fine.” Caduceus smiled.

“Alright, you go on and fix yourself a plate, I can bring it over to ya.” Fjord offered up a smile back as he went through the cupboards for a cup.

He followed around after Caleb and Nott, and from the sound of it, Nott seemed to be fretting over Caleb, “-you need to get on that, Cay cay. If you want someone to go with you, I wouldn’t mind!”

While she was definitely trying to keep her voice low, it still had a natural tendency to come out a little high. Caleb gently chided back, “Nott, I will. And I can do it myself just fine.”

“OK OK, I was just offering in case you- _GAH!!_ ” Nott jumped back as Caduceus had loomed over her, reaching to pick up one of the plates stacked on the table.

“Oh, sorry, excuse me,” Caduceus politely pulled back, “I wasn’t trying to interrupt you two.”

Nott looked to Caleb before then looking back to Caduceus, “Ah, it’s alright.”

Caleb went over to join Jester and Beau where they were sitting on the couch and eating off the coffee table. And Nott quickly scurrying after him. _What an interesting little duo_.

After settling in, there was a lot of fun catching up conversations being had. Beau complained about how sore she was after training today, Fjord was rooming with Bryce again (to which Jester angsted about not inviting them over too), Nugget was bouncing between people trying to beg for food which Jester had to keep scolding him for doing with their house guests, Nott talked about getting new hours at the store she worked at, and Jester got to talk more about fun stories she and Fjord got to have while studying abroad last semester.

Caduceus was simply a passive listener in all this, and it’s strange. This may truly have been his first time hanging out with a group of people in such a relaxed social situation. He’s had friends growing up, but this was the first time getting roped into a group that was so tight-knit. Really, he was _fascinated_.

“Yo, Caduceus,” his head lifted up to look over at Beau, “Were you here last semester?”

After a thoughtful blink, Caduceus made the connection then in his head, “Nah, this is my first semester here. I’m a freshman.”

“Oh shit, really? I thought you were like… I…” She began to struggle with her words, “... Not that I was making any assumptions, but you just seemed… Older? Like you’d be an upperclassman?”

Caduceus lightly chuckled, “I suppose I am starting college fairly late.”

“Well, how old are-” Beau was cut off by a knock at the door. There was a quiet pause over everyone there, guests turning to look to Jester and Nott, but when they looked just as confused, Beau decided to lift herself to her feet, “I’ll get it.”

Walking up to the door and opening it, she then was pleasantly surprised, “Yasha! Whoa!”

And just like that, everyone lit up and looked excited. There was a moment by the door that Yasha and Beau shared a quick hug before letting Yasha come in. She was a pretty big figure herself and walked right through with large boots and a leather jacket on. Her black to white ombre hair was pulled back by some braids.

“Yasha!” Jester hopped off the couch and ran around, throwing herself into her friend for a big warm embrace, “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I didn’t know I was either.” Despite her appearance, Yasha was quite soft-spoken. And through the dramatic eye makeup were some beautiful eyes, one a light blue and the other lavender.

“Come in! We have food if you’re hungry!” Jester invited Yasha.

“And booze!” Nott interjected.

“Ah, no thanks, I’m just stopping by. On my way to work.” Yasha said so guiltily as Jester deflated at that, “But! I’m back this semester, so we will definitely, _definitely_ have a chance to hang out sometime.” And Jester perked right back up.

“Well hey, it’s good seeing you again,” Fjord got up from his seat to go over and properly pull her into a half hug, “I missed the lot of you while we were away.”

“Yeah, we missed you guys soooo much!” Jester added on.

Even Caleb smiled and waved to her, Yasha politely waved back, and then she spotted Caduceus over on the end of the L-shaped couch.

“Yasha, that’s Caduceus, Caleb’s new roommate.” Fjord said, hand waving out to Caduceus’s direction, “‘Duces, this is Yasha! She’s a good friend of ours.”

That name stuck out as familiar given Caduceus had heard it dropped casually in that conversation between Jester and Caleb. He gave a nod her way, smiling lazily. And she nodded back, offering her own shy smile.

“I’m really sorry I can’t stay longer,” Yasha lamented.

“No no! It’s OK!” Jester quickly patched up, “We will just have to meet up some other time-maybe we could all get together next weekend!”

Yasha’s face lightened up at that, Fjord turned his head to wince silently at that. A couple parting words were had before Yasha would vanish back out into the night too soon to really get a chance to talk with her.

The rest of the evening would be full of laughs and pleasant talks. Nugget hopped up on the couch at some point, Beau got him onto his back to rub his belly and wag his tail against Caleb’s knee. Jester would sit by Caduceus and start showing him photos on her phone. And Nott poked fun at Fjord to provoke him to lift her up and slammed her down onto the cushions of the couch, all while she squawked and squirmed.

 _These people are good company_ , Caduceus thought to himself. Starting to feel as though he might feel a little less homesick if he got to see them more often.

* * *

It was nearing midnight by the time Caduceus drove them back to their dorms, dropping Fjord off right outside and sharing ‘goodnights’ with each other on his way out.

As Caduceus and Caleb began walking back to their dorm, Caduceus spoke up, “You know Caleb, if you’d like… I could drive you to wherever it is you have to go.”

Caleb looked with surprise at Caduceus, “Eh? What do you mean?”

“Um, something Nott was mentioning to you earlier tonight?” Caduceus clarified, “And you said you don’t like driving, so I wouldn’t mind… helping…” He noticed as he was walking, Caleb had stopped. And looking back at Caleb he raised a brow, “Is… that alright?”

Caleb looked conflicted, hands balled into fists, he even cursed under his breath in zemnian before he gave a sigh, “I didn’t say I don’t like to drive, just not in the city… Which is where we are.” He then grabbed at his own wrist, “Nott was referring to me going to the clinic, so I can get my medication eh- _renewal_? Renewed.”

“You have to go to the clinic for that?”

“I left my medicine at home,” Caleb lamented, “And bless my parents, but they’re very busy people and haven’t gotten the chance to send it to me. Rexxentrum is pretty far.”

“Well alright, sounds like a good enough reason then,” Caduceus then asked, “What do you take?”

That’s where Caleb was becoming the most nervous, speaking up just above a whisper, “ _Zoloft._ ”

Caduceus paused, that name was strikingly familiar to him, “Zoloft… Huh… One of my sisters used to take that.” His ears drooped, looking increasingly worried, “That’s not exactly a medication you should just… _Stop_ taking so abruptly.”

“I know that,” Caleb said, a little perturbed.

“Should we go now? How long has it been since your last dose?” Caduceus raised back up his keys.

“Earlier today.”

… 

Huh…

Caduceus pocketed back his keys, “You… Have spares?”

Caleb shifted from foot to foot, “Um, yes. I have just a few, uhh, helping tie me over, just until my parents get the rest sent in.”

A warning to the back of Caduceus’s head was buzzing, _What is he trying **not** to say? _

“Alright. If you start to get low on those-by all means, I can drive you in.” Caduceus reassured Caleb, who he saw look very uncomfortable, “... Heh, what are we still doing out here? It’s freezing. Come on.” He then walked on to the front doors, holding it open for Caleb to go inside.

Classes started tomorrow, and Caduceus has more trouble getting to sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lotta fun character perspective hopping which made this chapter both great to write but also I imagine a bit chaotic.
> 
> Anyways, I wanted to update early because I was excited for this chapter and I'm excited to share more! After this Saturday, I will likely go back to a weekly upload. I'll have to figure out a solid upload day.
> 
> Probably will have it figured out by chapter 4!


	3. Late Bloomer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made a small adjustment to the text as we finally got to meet Cad’s family. Man was I so wrong haha
> 
> The age thing looks a little weird in this story’s context, but honestly I’m gonna roll with it. If you see any weirdness in pronouns, that’s because I assumed Colton was Cad’s sister, not his brother.

Caduceus is arriving in his next class pretty late, after a brief mix up on where he needed to go about halfway, he was able to catch himself and make a quick u-turn back the way he came. He reaches the second-floor and-double checking his printed schedule-finds the door to the room and comes right in.

The classroom is not that large, well, when compared to the atrium-style lecture hall he had his first class of the day in for history, this room felt comfortably small. There also were not that many other students here, they all seemed to be sitting at the desks closest to where the professor was standing.

“-and… Your attendance is also graded in this class.”

Caduceus nodded, striding in to pick a seat- 

“ _Ah ah! Hold on there a minute_.”

Caduceus had just rested his bag on a desk but stopped. Getting a proper look at the professor, he appeared to be a much older human man, a shockingly white afro and eyes that matched.

“What’s your name?”

“Sorry-Caduceus Clay.” He quickly tried to recover.

The professor gave a nod, “Alright,” He then walked right up to a desk, patting the surface, “This is your seat. Get well acquainted with it.”

Caduceus lifted back up his bag and set it down on the floor by the assigned seat. Quickly to follow up after would be a human girl with long, straight, jet black hair to cover half her face. And yet, a horn poked out, revealing that part of her face was coated in black scales. She would hand Caduceus a couple of papers that are stapled together. Reading the top of the page, he would see this is the class syllabus:

 _Professor Shakäste and Teacher’s Aid Calianna Mordsson_.

Their contact information was listed, as well as office hours and the like.

The rest of the period was dedicated to Shakäste’s recounting of the syllabus points, only needing Calianna’s help once in awhile to remind him of where he left off or a missed bullet point he did not mention earlier.

This was the “First-Year Experience” class, which came as a surprise to Caduceus. A class, one day a week, all about getting accustomed to college classes and activities. The promise of the class was to help show students what resources they have through the college and to even do some light reading and writing short essays. Eventually, after running through it all while having made some jokes along the way, Shakäste gave an early dismissal.

“Mr. Clay,” Shakäste spoke up, “Do you have a moment?”

Glancing at his schedule again, he thankfully had a lunch period, “I believe so, yes.”

Shakäste would carefully lean on one of the desks, the metal was pretty heavy and he was pretty spindly, “That name… _Clay_ … Just _Clay_ ? Or is it short for something like _Clayton_ or _Claymount_?”

Caduceus nodded, “Nope, just _Clay_.”

A smirk pulled onto Shakäste’s lips, “Was it _Colton Clay_ that came here to Zadash?”

“Yeah, he did actually.” _Funny, what a small world_.

“Heh, yeah, your father sure was a riot, he was a student in one of my speech classes!”

“Oh,” Caduceus bashfully recovered, “No, uh, sorry-Colton’s actually my older brother. Our father is _Cornelius_ Clay.”

“Huh?” Shakäste’s smile dropped, “... Oh, how long’s it been?”

Caduceus knew he and Colton had a significant age difference, but to be assumed as his son was definitely new, “I believe… Hm- I think I was 10 when he graduated? He was young, and now I’m 28 so-”

“ _Wooowee!_ ” Shakäste shook his head, “Eighteen years and I’m still at this damn place?” He laughed, “Ah, I’m only joking, to be honest, they’d sooner have to wheel me outta here before I ever consider leaving.”

After he felt to have pestered Caduceus sufficiently, he gave a friendly smile, “Well, I look forward to having you in my class. I won’t tie you up. You have yourself a good day.”

“And you too.” 

* * *

Four classes, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. First-year experience would add one more credit onto his schedule since that only met on Mondays. The campus’s layout was thankfully pretty tight-knit, though that also made it difficult to efficiently navigate. And some of the listings of classrooms were odd. Much like where class “G107” was, he was pointed to the elevator and told, “It’s downstairs.” That seemed odd. _To the basement?_ Apparently, “G” stood for “Ground”, so Caduceus tried to understand it as _under_ **_ground_ **.

Though he managed to make it with three minutes to spare, the room was practically full. The seating arrangement this time were long tables with two to three chairs at each. Caduceus considered for a moment taking one of the open seats up front until he spotted there in the back a familiar black to white fade of hair.

Sitting by herself, arms crossed, was Yasha. And somehow, Caduceus felt compelled enough to walk right up to her, “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” He pointed to the one by her.

She turned to him at first with a scowl, cold and piercing. Though she was quick to recognize Caduceus, and instantly that melted away, “Oh, ya sure!” She even scooted over to give Caduceus more space on his side of the table.

He sat down and gave a huff, “Now who would’ve guessed we would meet each other again like this?” He then offered his hand up to her to shake, “Pleasure to meet’cha.”

“Same.” Yasha smiled as she took his hand and firmly shook it.

The professor would enter in shortly after, having syllabuses passed out to the students. Though rather than bother going through the syllabus, the teacher started to thrust them right into the basics of math and writing things out on the whiteboard.

Caduceus scrounges for something to write within his bag, and he had not even bought a notebook yet to take notes. Yasha also looked to be searching for a pencil or pen or _something_ to write with, but when the one pencil she had was lacking graphite on the end, Caduceus whispered to her, “How about I take notes for the both of us?” To which Yasha was appreciative and nodded.

They ended up using the backs of the pages of their syllabuses combined. Caduceus was steadily trying to keep up while making actual notes on the side to explain what was what, yet the professor was already onto the next thing before he was finished with the note on the last one.

Math class would run entirely too long and Caduceus was just at the last sliver of open space on the printed handouts when the professor would finally dismiss them. While not a great class, Caduceus was glad for it is the last class for the day. And after this would be a day of reprieve before doing this all over again. Couldn’t exactly say he was thrilled, but he presumed that these things take time to adjust to.

“It was so nice to see you,” Yasha got up from her chair, “And thanks for taking the notes.”

“Same to you,” Caduceus pushed his chair in, “I think I might copy the notes down into a proper notebook first chance I get. Mind if I borrow your syllabus for now?”

“Oh yeah, you can just keep it, I don’t really care.”

“You sure?” He asked as he slipped the papers into his bag, “They have the teacher’s email and office hours listed, not to mention a supplies list.”

Yasha simply shrugged, “It’s OK. Thanks though,” Giving him a pat on the back, she walked out of the room.

* * *

Caduceus returned to an empty dorm, with the only greeting being from Caleb’s cat, who happily trotted up and jingled with each step. At least _someone_ was there to greet him, “Hello Frumpkin,” Closing the door quickly behind him so there was no chance for the cat to dash out into the hallway, Caduceus sloughed his bag off his shoulder and into his hand.

“Huh, now what a day,” Caduceus walked in to set the bag into his chair, smiling at his thriving plants, “Hey, hope you guys had fun. It was pretty confusing to me.”

He picked up a small, practically hand-sized, watering can from the desk, “Let me freshen you guys up a little,” And then took it into the bathroom to fill up at the sink. He slowly watered each one of them, taking a little moment to actually talk to each one:

“I know, this is a little new, different climate and elevation. But the cold has always been pretty harsh,” He would check the leaves, making sure they’re healthy and alive, “If we’re optimistic enough, we can make it through this, no problem.”

Moving from plant to plant, he ended up lastly with the plants in the window sill, “Mm, I know it’s a little cramped right now. Come summer, I can take you back home and plant you out in the garden. Then you’ll have all the room to stretch out those roots,” He slightly turned the pot so the other side faced the window, “You’re all so brave, this can be kinda scary, but look at you. You’re thriving.”

With all the plants tended for, he set the watering can back onto his desk, deciding now to go through his bag and pull out all these loose and crumpled papers in it. He had been under some impression that the classrooms would just have paper and pencils readily available? That’s how he remembered it in highschool, most supplies were just readily kept in a cabinet somewhere. But he came to understand that the supplies written were things he needed to go out and buy himself.

Tomorrow he would have time to go to the campus bookstore and pick up the required textbooks, as well as notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, erasers… He was also required to get a USB drive for his first-year experience and English classes, so as to print out essays. And he could not understand why he couldn’t just use a pen and write it himself.

In the midst of his supplies listing, Caduceus heard the door open to then Caleb walking in. Caleb also gave a small greeting to his furry companion before dropping his backpack by his bed on the floor and sitting down to take off his layers of winter wear.

“Good evening, Mr. Caleb,” Caduceus beamed, “How was your first day?”

“Eh, not too much, not too little. Today, it was general physics, engineering, and statistics. Tomorrow I have lined up discrete mathematics and- _unfortunately_ \- **_art_ **,” Caleb huffed as he fell back onto his mattress.

“Well art doesn’t sound so bad,” Caduceus tried to encourage, but only got a grunt back from Caleb, “I’d be curious to see what kind of art a mind like yours would produce.”

“Garbage.”

“Nonsense!”

“That too.”

Caduceus tsk’d Caleb, “I think you might find joy in something simple. Like painting… Cats!”

Caleb couldn’t help but crack a small smile at that, “That’s like me saying you would like to paint plants.”

“And I would!” Caduceus looked to one of his leafy friends, “So much green, a lot of mixing blues and yellows.”

“I’m not certain how much art we will really dabble in, this is just an ‘introduction to visual art’ after all.” Caleb sat himself up with one arm propped behind him.

“Then that should help you to see art from a new perspective.”

“I think I could tell the difference already between art and trash.”

“Then maybe you’ll start to look into that trash and see that it can be art too.”

The effort is commendable but Caleb wasn’t going to keep trying to drag this out any longer than necessary. Giving a simple shrug, he patted the space next to him on the bed, getting Frumpkin to jump up and start to headbutt into his side, “Well how about you, Herr Clay?”

“Hm, well I think art can--”

“No no-how was _your_ day.” Caleb quickly course-corrected.

“ _Ah_!” Caduceus chuckled, bringing one foot up to tuck under his knee, “I suppose it was a good first day.”

“You ‘ _suppose_ ’?” Caleb raised a brow.

“I was a little late to about two of my classes, I almost sat in the wrong class at some point. I was meant to be in ‘first year experience’ but then the professor welcomed everyone to the introduction to economics!” Caduceus picked up the spread of papers on his bed, “Thankfully, I found the right class, and I was just starting a supplies and books list. I’m going to be going to the bookstore tomorrow to pick them up.”

Caleb scrunched up his face at that, “Are you able to look up the books online? You can find them much cheaper there, or even for free.”

Caduceus looked back at the paper and then back up to Caleb, “What’s so wrong with getting the books at the bookstore?”

“I find it’s far better finding a used book online than it is to even rent the books here, they’re incredibly pricey,” Caleb scooted forward to reach down and pick up his backpack, unzipping it open.

“Really? How much are textbooks?” Caduceus saw Caleb pulled out his laptop, opening it up on his lap as he tapped on the keys. He got up from his bed and sat himself down on the space next to Caleb.

“Well over a hundred dollars to keep, reduced by a quarter to rent,” Caleb looked to Caduceus, “What is one of these books you need?” He looked at where Caduceus pointed at on the paper in his hand, and typed the name of it into a search bar, “Look here, originally 132 dollars.”

“Oh wow! Yeah, that’s a lot,” Caduceus looked back up at Caleb, “I don’t know if this is asking for too much, but could you order the books for me? I can pay, but I just don’t know how to really…”

“You’ve never used this site before?”

Caduceus stared at the screen a moment more, eyes trying to make sense of the icons and text and buttons all over it, “... Nope. I could give you my credit card.”

Caleb looked to grimace, agonizing over it, though with Caduceus’s face and knowing how badly swindled he was in the past, he finally relented with a sigh, “Fine, I hope you plan on buying me dinner too.”

“I can do that!” Caduceus eagerly agreed.

“No no! I kid! I was kidding!”

* * *

The dining hall has started to fill up at tables with all sorts coming in to pick up dinner meals and sit down to unwind with friends and roommates. Going through the salad bar together, Fjord is piling on some extra ham to his “chef salad” while Beau reads a text on her phone before pocketing it away.

“Hey, Jester’s asking about ideas to do next Saturday,” Beau picks up her plate of food and follows after Fjord as he navigates them to a table, “Honestly, I’m cool with just hanging at one of our places and kicking it back with some beers, those are the best nights.”

“Uhh, well, I can’t really join, Vandran’s gonna have us practicing on Saturday mornings,” Fjord slid right into a chair, watching Beau sit across from him at the table, “So you all could do that without me!”

“If it’s just in the morning, what’s stopping you from coming later in the evening?” Beau picked up her fork.

“Um,” Fjord was breaking into a cold sweat, and then when Beau looked back up at him, he choked, “... Sore..ness… I’ll be too sore… Ta…”

Beau backed away from her food, squinting harder at him as now he, in a reactionary effect, went to getting a forkful of salad to shove into his mouth, “Really Fjord? Dude.”

Fjord tried talking through a mouthful of lettuce, which was purposeful to obscure what he was saying.

“Alright, if you didn’t wanna come, you would’ve said it by now. But now you’re just floundering with your lie,” She propped her elbow on the table and leaned in, “What’s up?”

After some sensible chewing and a tough swallow, Fjord wiped his mouth on the back of his wrist and spoke lowly, “Uh, I… Agreed to meetin’ with… Avantika this week-”

“You WHAT?!” The outburst from Beau startled the folks just behind Fjord, and he quickly tried to shush her, “No, there is no fucking way-”

“I know, I **_know_ ** , Beau!” Fjord tried to appease, “But look-we’ve had some months apart, right? Gave us some well needed space and time in which we weren’t anywhere _near_ each other! So we’ve calmed down now. I feel a lot calmer now about it all.”

Beau just scrubbed her palms into her face and groaned, “ _Fjoooord_ , bud, come _on_.”

“Well- _eh_ -how about _you_ come on- _bud_ ,” Fjord flinched for a moment at the one eye peeking back at him at the punctuated word, “N-now, she’s not even asking about getting back _together_ . Moreso just ta-just to… Catch up, _you know_?”

Poutily leaning back in her chair, Beau glared up at Fjord for a few silent moments. Neither did anything for a long pause until she sat back up and picked her fork up again, “Sure dude. Whatever.”

“Oh now don’t give me _that_ ,” Fjord said as Beau took a big bite to chew on, “I think she just deserves a sec-a… She deserves another chance. Because hey, a lot of things were said when we last broke up, things that even opened _my_ eyes.”

“M’sure Jester’s gonna be thrilled to hear about it,” Beau said passively, “... Of course, I’m not gonna be the one to tell her about it.”

Fjord stared a hole into Beau, who really didn’t give a damn by this point, and he finally deflated, “Look, I’m sorry, I know I should’ve just… I shouldn’t… I could’ve said no, and I _should’ve_ -”

“No, _Fjord_ ,” Beau pinched the bridge of her nose, “Ugh, stop… **I’m** the one being an asshole now, and _I’m_ sorry. But I’m just trying to look out for you, man! We all are! You guys had a nasty break up, and I’d hate to see her hurt you like that again.”

“But this isn’t a one-way street, Beau, I messed up too. I was a dick back to her, and rather than do what I should’a done in the first place- _talk to her_ , I let it fester and we both just blew up,” Fjord sighed, “I know I **hurt** her too. The least I wanna do moving forward is… I wanna make amends..?”

Beau just huffed, “Personally? I don’t think you gotta. But that’s just my two cents. If you wanna try to ‘ _make amends_ ’ then… That’s your decision, bud,” the crease between her brows flattens, eyes softening, “I trust you, Fjord.”

That warmth spreads to Fjord’s chest, as he smiles proudly at that. The two easily fall back into a more casual talk, at least getting to end the dinner off on a better note than it started when they first sat down.

* * *

Tossing and turning, yet again, for another night of restlessness. Caduceus finds himself turning to face Caleb’s bed. Facing back at him would be a tired Caleb who was fast asleep, and Frumpkin curled up by his head on the pillow. A truly inseparable pair.

And yet, the sight still caused heartache for Caduceus. Maybe he should just pick up one of the potted plants from the window and start hugging it. Actually, that would be a terrible idea. He might knock it over in his sleep and get dirt everywhere.

Trying to just close his eyes and drift off was not happening, if anything, the feelings of homesickness were rising more and more in the back of his mind. Almost to the point that it was making him dizzy and subsequently woozy. He would have to reopen his eyes just to steady himself and find he was less likely to sleep the next time he tried to close his eyes.

After twenty more minutes of fighting with it, Caduceus was fresh out of patience. The night before it didn’t take him until nearly four in the morning to finally just pass out from exhaustion, if not for Caleb getting him up he may have very well been late for the first day. So trying to run around on roughly three hours of sleep was not conducive.

He sat up, bedsprings creaking under him. The noise seemed to catch Frumpkin’s attention, who lifted his head. Caduceus carried on with carefully slipping out of bed and shuffling his feet to slip into his shoes, throwing on his jacket and grabbing his keys. He kept glancing at Caleb, making sure he was still asleep, even though his cat watched him attentively.

 _At least cats can’t talk_ , Caduceus silently thought to himself.

Leaving the dorm with the same, careful ease as the last time he had done this, he walked back down the stairs and outside to go to his car.

Sitting in it, he pulled back out his tin, then he ducked down by the pedals, lifting the floor mat by his feet, he did some feeling around until pulling up a sandwich baggy. Within that baggy would be the remains of a bud with pieces broken off of it. And then got to work preparing another joint for himself. Or rather two.


	4. Karaoke Night

“I just do not know how to handle myself around  _ him _ ,” despite the concrete of the sidewalk being cold, Nott took to sitting on the curb as she shared this break out the back of the store with another employee, “He’s just so hot! We’re talkin’- _we’re talking_ -OK, Caleb’s pretty  _ hot _ , you know? He’s got that whole rugged look with the beard and-and his messy hair, then with those _piercing blue eyes_?”

“Mh, yeah..?” The co-worker tepidly responded to a fairly rhetorical line of questioning, he handed the cigarette in his hands down to Nott.

“OK, then like take the- _ oh thanks _ ,” Nott picked the cigarette up from him, “Take the scruffy beard, then add long messy hair, pale _pink_ eyes… And just make him  _ crazy _ tall! He’s so  _**hot**! _ ”

Nott’s co-worker laughed, shaking his head at her energetic descriptions, “Heh, yeah- _ heheh _ -I guess I’m starting to picture what this guy looks like now.”

She took a long drag from the cigarette, letting the ash flick off the end before passing it back up to him, “And now he’s slowly becoming part of the group- _ koff- _ and we’re gonna go- _ kef-tonight-koff koff! _ ” Pounding her chest as she coughed out the rest of the smoke, she gave a disgusted groan after.

“I’m sorry, picked out the wrong brand, these things are pretty intense even for me.” He quickly apologized.

“ _ Kef! _ No no, it’s fine,” She fought back the tears and sniffed, “Honestly I shouldn’t be getting started in these again. Between these and booze, I rather take the latter.”

“Oh! I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pressure you--”

“Don’t be, Yeza! It’s fine!” Nott was quick to quell his worrying, “If I didn’t want it, I would’ve been forthright.”

Yeza crouched down beside Nott, taking back the cigarette to rub the end out on the ground before adding it back into the pack, “Honestly, I need to quit too,” While crouched down, he hugged his knees and looked to Nott again, now level with her, “Sorry-go on! He’s becoming part of the  _ group _ now?”

“Yeah-oh right! The group of friends that me and Caleb are part of,” Nott said while rubbing at her arms through her sleeves, “And tonight we’re going to karaoke!”

Yeza chuckled lightly, “Oh no.”

“Oh  _ yeah _ . And it’s at a bar! Which means drinking! _Drinking_ is going to be involved!” Nott seemed to increasingly panic, “And if I drink, I get  _ bold _ , and when I get bold, I get stupid! And I know Jester’s going to make me get up there and sing with her, and he’s going to  _ see this! _ ”

Yeza laughs more.

“I think I might die, Yeza. Tonight, not so much, but _tomorrow morning_? Nope. I’m gone. I gotta leave town and never come back.”

“Aww, but I would miss you,” Yeza says sympathetically, “Oh-we should go back inside, time’s almost up.”

“Yeah yeah,” Nott stood up and walked to the door with Yeza, “If I make a fool of myself in front this guy, I swear-oh! And another bonus about this guy? Caleb says that he  **_smokes_ ** .”

By the inflection, she put on the word, that did get Yeza to raise a brow, “Smokes..?”

“ _Weed_! Cause when he rode over Sunday night, he said that Caduceus’s car just  _ smelled _ of it,” Nott then opens the door for Yeza, “I can respect that so long as he respects my need for a lil’ brandy now and then.”

“Huh, I-I hope he’s not driving while getting high,” Yeza walked in before her.

“Nah, getting high and driving is not nearly as bad as driving drunk,” Nott says as she follows after.

“Neither are good at all, but alright.”

“Point of the matter is: he’s cool and he’s totally going to see me as the antithesis of cool after tonight,” Nott lamented, she tugged at the strands of hair down by the sides of her head.

Yeza started to pity her more, “Aw, well you know, if he’s able to look at you belting your heart out up there, and get only endeared by you… Then maybe, just maybe, he’s really  _ the one _ for you.”

Nott’s tugging loosened and the dawning realization then came to her face, “Then… I…  **_Should_ ** go up on the microphone and sing something stupid and sappy so that he’ll totally fall for my charm and alluring looks?”

Yeza tried to form words with his mouth in order to respond, “... I’m not saying you  _ should- _ ”

* * *

“Alrigh’ every _ body _ !” A clawed hand gripped the microphone and tipped down the stand so she could speak right into it, “I’mma be dedicating  _ this _ song to a special _ some’un  _ tonigh’. Some’un, that I’ve come… To dearly  _ ad’ure _ …  **_Duces_ ** !” She pointed over to the bar where the firbolg sat, “This ‘uns fer  _ you _ !”

At the bar, Caduceus stood alongside Caleb, he had only ordered a glass of water for his drink of choice this evening and looked pleasantly surprised by the gesture. There were some eyes to follow where Nott pointed, but then the music started to play…

Anytime Nott’s slurred words managed to be coherent to the song, they often came out discordant and crackled.

Caduceus and Caleb got their drinks and settled back down at the table with Beau, Jester, and Yasha. While the rest of the room may not be fans to Nott’s grating tones, Beau and Jester were trying to clap and cheer the loudest in the room at Nott’s brave efforts.  Caleb just sipped his beer and sunk his head down lower onto the table, trying to appear as small and unaffiliated with everything here as much as possible.

Though that would be difficult as Caduceus leaned down to Caleb’s level to talk to him directly, “I’ve never had someone dedicate a song to me before.”

Caleb’s eyes peered up at Caduceus while his chin rested on the tabletop, “... Then it’s your lucky night.”

That only seemed to brighten Caduceus up more as he sat straight and watched on. Sure her singing wasn’t great, but he was still more touched by the gesture than anything else.

There soon came booing, which was quickly rivaled by Beau yelling back at them, putting a foot up on her chair as if she was ready to spring out at them. Thank the gods these songs were shortened down, as the song would come to its end before Nott would have to go into a third bridge and burn it down.

In Nott’s passion of it all, having completely believed she  _ killed it _ up there, she lifted the mic stand with mic slipping out to fall to the floor and tossed it off the short step of a stage, yelling out into the ceiling with complete zeal and joy.

* * *

The curbside was a pretty hard and cold impact for Nott to stumble over onto, following quickly after her would be her friends who were also shown the door.

Jester rushed over to Nott’s side, “Oh my gosh! Nott!!”

“Annnnd you can  **keep** me out!” Nott yelled back to the door, which slammed just behind Caduceus, “fffffffUCk them.”

“Yeah, fuck them! We were just having some fun,” Beau came to Nott’s defense.

“We don’ need their-their sh _ ITTY BOOZE _ !” Nott tried to make it a point to raise her voice when degrading the establishment’s beer, “I got mah own.”

From within Nott’s coat, she pulled out a flask, popping the cap to take a swig out of it herself, “Any’un want sum??” With no one taking up interest, she shrugged, “More fer me!” And took another swig as she screwed back on the cap.

“We should go now,” Caleb says in a hurried state, looking back over his shoulder anxious to still see the owner of the bar standing just behind the door glaring at the group.

“Yeah, it's pretty late,” Jester helped Nott to her feet, “We should go home so Nott can go to bed."

“Le’s star’ a kara’hoke bus’nis and we’ll- _ hic _ -make better chump change than THIS crap hole!” Nott continued to berate the bar as she was being shuffled away by not just Jester, but also Beau who would help guide her down the street.

Following behind them would by Caleb, Yasha, and Caduceus. It would be by this time that Caduceus noticed just how quiet Yasha was in this group, aside from already being so soft-spoken, when they would enter the bar she seemed to say barely a word, and that was only to order herself a drink.

Actually, along with being kicked out, Caduceus knew they had been running a tab on drinks as a group, and he looked curiously to Yasha and Caleb, “Hey, did we pay for our drinks before leaving?”

The two of them pondered it a moment, Yasha turning to Caleb who said, “Ehh, no? No I don’t believe we did.”

“Hell yeah, free drinks!” Beau whooped ahead of them.

That got Jester to gasp and start to worriedly panic over that while Yasha here in the back just laughed.

_ Oh good _ , Caduceus had been growing concerned that Yasha was not in a good mood. She had a cold front, one that gave her an intimidating appearance, but it would seem that now around just her friends again, she was smiling warmly and had uncrossed arms. She was interesting to Caduceus.

They all had piled back into Caduceus's car, thankfully not parked too far away and the body heat of multiple people helped warm it up inside fairly quickly. He dropped Nott and Jester off in front of their apartment. Departing with simple "good night"s, Caduceus would go on to carpool the rest through the midnight streets of Zadash.

Caduceus took direction from Yasha to help take her home.  In the backseats, Beau and Caleb sat by one another, and Caleb prompted a question, "Beau, ehh-what-why didn't you tell Jester what Fjord was doing tonight?"

Beau seemed to only slump in her seat more, watching out the window to try her damnedest to not make eye contact or let the grimace on her face tell more than she wanted to say, "ah, it's Fjord's business, not mine."

"So are you saying that you  _ do know _ what he is doing?" Caleb continued to press.

It was difficult enough to not tell Jester, but that was only counteracted by how badly she did not want Jester to know, "... He's with Avantika again."

Caduceus noticed from his peripheral and the rearview mirror that both Yasha and Caleb winced at that name, "Who's that?" He asked.

Beau uncrossed her legs, giving a huff, "I mean, guess we can tell you in case she starts showing up… She's Fjord's ex. And personally? She's fuckin' _crazy_ ," She was quick to wave a dismissive hand, "But I can't keep talking like that if Fjord and her get back together."

"For a second time?" Caleb challenged.

"He swears he won't, but he also is all about  _ 'giving her a chance to be better' _ and I call bullshit. I think he's thinking more with his dick than his head at this point." Beau shrugged, "Love 'im like a brother, but he sometimes doesn't go into some of this stuff thinking it entirely through."

Caduceus lacked the frame of reference to what made Avantika so bad, "Well, perhaps he sees something that we don't, if they were intimate, he must know more than the rest of you all know."

There was a tense silence, Caduceus was so sure it was simply contemplative. Though in the rearview, he did see Caleb start to lean away from Beau more.

"Hey Yasha," Beau decided to shift the discussion to her, "Who's your new roommate that you're kickin' with?"

Blinking as she was brought out from simply watching buildings pass by them, she stammered a moment to find the answer, "Uh, not someone you all would know. Unfortunately. Doesn't go to college with us," as she was watching memorized landmarks, she pointed out the next turn for Caduceus to take, "If you want to just drop me off about here, I can walk."

Caduceus gave a warm smile Yasha's way, "I can take you as close as I can get. No problem."

There was another pause, as Caduceus made the turn around the corner and Yasha looked out to the sidewalk, waiting just five more seconds, "Here."

It was abrupt, but Caduceus did his best in easing the car to a stop without jerking everyone forward, "Oh sorry, need me to back up any?"

"Nope," Yasha already unbuckled herself and opened the door, "Uh, see you in math," she flashed a wide smile before hopping out and shutting the door behind her. They would watch as she would begin walking down the sidewalk, not walking up to any of the houses along this dingy neighborhood.

"Do you think she's alright?" Caduceus pondered with a tinge of worry.

"I think you can mind your own business," Beau said, "She's fine."

Caduceus's fingers tapped along the wheel, considering Beau's tone before letting go of the brakes to continue driving.

* * *

Coming to park in the usual parking lot, Caleb climbs out of the car, closes the door behind him, and is walking a couple of steps away before realizing that Caduceus is not following. He takes a moment to look back and meet eyes with him through the windshield. Caleb is just interested enough to come back over to check.

“Everything ok there?” Caleb asks through the door.

Caduceus nods and rolls his window down, “Sorry-you can go on ahead. I’m going to be a minute,” he pauses, “I’m going to call my parents.”

Caleb gives a nod, “Right,” and with a simple parting, Caleb carries on back to the dorm.

They had been rooming together for about a week now, so Caleb caught on by this point to what it was Caduceus was up to. When he first caught that smell, he worried that maybe Caduceus was smoking in the room while he slept. Although, from the first time he and Fjord climbed into Caduceus’s car, the scent of a  _ musky herb _ was very present. There was even a subtle glance between him and Fjord about it.

_ No wonder he’s so mellow _ , was something that came up in their text threads,  _ I wonder if he grows his own _ .

None of them were judging Caduceus from what Caleb could tell, a _little bit_ of weed doesn’t seem like a _really_ _big_ deal. All Caleb cared about was _where_ he smoked it, and thankfully that wasn’t in their dorm.

Just as Caleb got to the hallway to their dorm, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he took a look and was then quickly hurrying to answer the phone, bringing it up to his ear as he fumbled with getting the key in the lock.

“Ah hallo?  _ Mutter _ ??” Caleb finally got the door to unlocked, opening it just wide enough for him to slip through before shutting it behind him.

“ _ There’s my favorite Bren, how are you? _ ” Caleb’s mother spoke in full zemnian with eager endearment to Caleb.

“ _ I have been well, _ ” Caleb lacked that stall and stutter to his usual speaking voice, “ _ I was with friends, I meant to call sooner, I’m sorry. _ ”

“ _ Don’t apologize! You’re young, have fun and enjoy yourself! _ ” He could almost feel the smile behind those words, “ _ How is Frumpkin? _ ”

Caleb looked over to his bed, no sign of the furry bundle. Looking to Caduceus’s bed however he spotted those familiar stripes, “ _ Where he shouldn’t be! _ ” He went up, scooping Frumpkin up in one arm despite the protests in mewls and whines, “ _ And getting a little chubby too. _ ”

Her joyful laughter brought a smile to Caleb’s face, “ _ Oh to be a happy fat cat, sleeping all day and not having a care in the world. _ ”

Caleb set Frumpkin down on his bed and sat down beside him, “ _ How are you and father doing? _ ”

There was a stalling hum from his mom, and her tone shifted to be a little more flat, “ _ We are getting by. We’re much more concerned with you, Bren. _ ”

There was hesitance to that answer, Caleb knew why, “ _ Did father get a call back yet? _ ”

After the heavy silence, she answered, “ _ No, my favorite, he did not, _ ” though deflated, she was quick to try and perk herself back up, “ _ But I am still working! And your father has another interview in the next week! _ ”

Positives and negatives, sure there were a lot of negatives piling up, at the very least it seemed that his parents were still mustering through it all, “ _ That’s wonderful! _ ” The least he could do is be enthusiastic with her, despite  _ both _ of them knowing how bleak things were, they were constantly trying to keep the other optimistic.

“ _ It is very late for you, I won’t keep you up too much longer, _ ” Caleb’s mother said, “ _ Just wanted to say ‘hello’ and wish you a ‘goodnight’, my favorite. _ ”

Caleb smiled once more, “ _ I am very glad you did, _ ” He began to form the words to wish a goodnight, but the thought crossed his mind, “ _ Oh! Mother! Have you sent out my medicine yet? _ ”

The pause of silence was telling, to which Caleb was slowly beginning to dread. From the sound of it, they must just have been so busy that it slipped their minds. He could forgive forgetfulness, but with the supply he had already running low, he was really hoping they had sent it by now, “ _ My favorite, I am so sorry. _ ”

Caleb’s eyes squeezed shut,  _ of course _ , still, he tried to swallow the disappointment so he could gently pressure again, “ _ It’s OK mother, but I really need them before I- _ ”

“He took them.”

That completely disarmed Caleb, now stumbling a moment on his words to reclaim what he was saying, “ _ Wait what? Who? _ ”

“ _ Your uncle, _ ” her voice was filled with dread, “We had searched, and when your father asked Trent, he said he took them.”

Caleb’s gut twisted as he felt deep-seated dread boil inside him, growing into that of frustration and anger.

“ _ Bren, I am so sorry. We are going to try and get it refilled for you soon! _ ”

He was already counting backward the days, recalling he had gotten the prescription filled just two days before leaving for college. That was still _a_ **_lot_** _of pills_ _to very suddenly_ _lose_. And yet he can’t possibly imagine the hassle that his parents are having right now in scrambling to not only try and get more for him but the financial cost that would also weigh.

“ _ Bren? My favorite..? _ ” She sounded close to crying and it was breaking Caleb’s heart.

“ _ Do not worry, mother _ ,” Caleb strained to keep himself evened and calm, “ _ I can get them myself. _ ”

“ _ Just use your credit card, Bren, your father and I can handle the cost. _ ”

“ _ I believe it will alright, mother, _ ” Caleb sighed through his nose, “ _ Thank you for telling me. _ ”

“ _ We love you so, so much, Bren. _ ”

“ _ I love you too, mother, _ ” Caleb looked down to the carpet, “ _ Goodnight. _ ”

Pulling the phone away, he tossed it to the desk, not caring that it clattered loudly. Frumpkin gave a jump. All Caleb did now was flop back on his bed and stare blankly at the ceiling.

After a couple of minutes passed, Caduceus would come into the dorm. The lights were never turned on so he was already assuming that Caleb was asleep in bed. With that in mind, he crept carefully to his closet to gather some clothes and then slip into the bathroom. All the while, Caleb felt he was too heavy to move from where he lay.

Frumpkin nudged his way into Caleb’s hand, at least giving him something to pet mindlessly.

Caleb would find it hard to sleep tonight.


	5. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

It was so cold outside, evidenced by the flakes of snow falling and the steam rising from each breath, and without a proper winter coat, the frosty breeze was all the more intense. And yet, he  _ relished _ in it. The bite of winter air made him feel awake, made him feel  _ alive _ .

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get you your coat,” Yasha apologized, “You can wear mine.”

“N-no, no,” he shivered, voice quivering a bit, “I’ll be f-fine.”

“ _ Molly _ .” She gently chides.

“No really, I want this… it’s _ refreshing _ .”

Standing out here in front of the hospital, finally experiencing  _ freedom _ for the first time in  _ weeks _ , he just wanted to feel the cold reach down to his bones. To allow him to feel and be  _ real _ .

“... Alright,” Molly rubbed his arms, “Top of the order: lunch.”

Yasha smiled, “What would you like? It’ll be my treat.”

“I could go for just the most disgusting, greasiest burger right now.”

“The Leaky Tap?”

Molly nodded, “ _ Oh yeah _ , that’d be perfect.”

* * *

Blades of dull green grass barely poked out from the piling snowflakes. And due to this, classes were letting out early for the day. A surprise that Caduceus was not aware of could even happen. They had thrown salt all around the sidewalks and pavement, but despite their best efforts, the snow was resilient and continued to pack.

With not much else to do with his day, he tucked his nose further into his scarf as he took long strides to get back to the dorms.

There by the front of the building was one bubbly, excited blue face who lit up at seeing him approach.

“Hey! Caduceus!” Jester eagerly waved.

Standing alongside her was someone with a hoodie, and when they turned to face him, he immediately recognized her.

“Jester, Beau,” Caduceus greets them back, “Good afternoon, how are you two?”

“Great!” Jester was bursting with energy, “With classes canceled, we wanted to go get lunch out together! We were just waiting on Caleb to come down!”

“Aw, that sounds nice,” Caduceus languidly smiled, “A warm cup of soup sounds perfect for a day like this.”

“I know, right??” Jester then got a spark to her eye, “Caduceus, did you want to come along?”

Beau glanced at Jester as Caduceus easily answered, “Sure, I’d really love that.”

“That’s super, Beau do you mind?” Jester looked up to Beau, a hopefulness to her tone.

The ever slightest blush from cold air nipping at her cheeks and nose only seemed to deepen, and Beau gave a shrug, “Yeah, sure, I don’t see why not. Might get a bit scrunched in the backseat with Caleb and Fjord.”

“Oh, but Caduceus could sit in the front seat then, I don’t mind!” Jester so graciously offered.

Beau looked a bit pained, but forced on a smile regardless, “Yeah. Right. Sounds good.”

Finally, Caleb would grace them with his presence, getting an eager hug from Jester as he stepped outside and was tossing the end of his scarf over his shoulder, “Eh- _ danka _ ,” he quickly muttered as he patted her back.

“C’mon,” Beau teases, “I told Fjord we’d pick him up in front of Ray Hall.”

Caduceus followed up behind them, Jester walked alongside Caleb, and Beau took the lead in marching towards the parking lot. Something seemed to light up in Jester’s head as she audibly gasped and then pulled her side satchel around in front of her, opening the flap and digging around inside until pulling out a form.

“Are either of you two interested in buying some  _ flowers _ for Valentine’s day?” She waved up the paper to Caleb, who gingerly took it from her, “They’re not  _ real _ flowers, in the art department we’re making a buncha fake cloth roses for people to order so they can give them to their valentine sweethearts!”

She then offers Caduceus a form too, printed on pink paper with a big cursive font reading “ _ Valentine Flower Exchange _ ”.

“Well, it doesn’t need to be for a sweetheart. There are friendship roses too-Oh! And the best part? You can get  _ secret admirer _ roses and we will send them out anonymously to whoever you are interested in giving them to!”

“We’re still in January,” Beau states.

“Yeah but that doesn’t stop all the stores from selling Valentine’s day candy already,” Jester argued, “But these are just pre-orders. We expect to get all the forms back on February 7th so we have time to make all the flowers and send them out the day before Valentine’s Day!”

Jester leaned over to Caleb, pointing at parts of the writing, “See, you put all the general information stuff here, and then you cut off the bottom half here so that you have this slip to give to us when you come to pick up your order. Secret admirer flowers get taken care of by us so you don’t gotta worry.”

Caleb nodded along, and then noticed that Jester’s eyes lingered on him a moment longer, “Um..?”

“Are you gonna get flowers for anybody  **_special_ ** , Caleb?” Jester teased, her devious little smile let her canines pop out over her bottom lip.

After a pause, Caleb folded the paper at the cut line, slipping it into his pocket, “You don’t know.”

“Oh, I will know once you turn your form back into me!”

“This is the art department that is doing this, yes? Who’s to say I don’t take it to one of them instead?”

“I’ll still know!”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes I will!”

The way these two bantered reminded Caduceus an awful lot of his siblings.

* * *

_ The Leaky Tap _ diner often found itself pretty quiet during these in-between hours of breakfast and lunch. It was an honest godsend, as Molly was slowly reintegrated back into society, he needed to ease back into the hustle and bustle of this city. He had no idea just how ravenous he was until wolfing down half of his burger and having not yet gotten a sip of water between bites.

“If you want, we could ask for you to take something to go,” Yasha suggests as she pops a chip in her mouth.

Molly’s mouth was too full in that moment, needing to chew and then swallow, “Oh no, I’ll be fine-” interrupting him was a burp that unexpectedly bubbled up, “ _ -mh _ ! Pardon, good  _ god _ where are my damn manners?”

Yasha just shakes her head, chuckling lightly, “You got to eat while there, right?”

He gave a scoff, picking up a french fry now to dip in ketchup, “Tch, course I did, otherwise, they would’a put me on a  _ watchlist _ .”

Cocking her head, her expression turning sympathetic, “Not a good stay either..?”

Molly’s stockpiling of food into his mouth slowed at that, he sighed exhaustively and rapped his knuckles against the top of the table. He looked conflicted about what to say. His knotted, unbrushed hair, patchy stubble around his jaw, and dark circles under his eyes should be evidence enough.

“Sorry,” Yasha hurriedly tried to smooth things over, “You don’t have to talk about it.”

Those tired eyes looked back up at her, and a smile pulled on his face, “Thanks, Yasha,” he reached his hand out over to her, holding onto her wrist, “To be honest? I only don’t wanna tell you because I rather spare you from having to withhold that information from our  _ nosy  _ friends.”

Yasha pulled her hand back, wrist slipping out of his hand to instead interlock their fingers together, “They’re more your friends than mine.”

“They’re your friends too,” Molly squeezed around her knuckles, “I wouldn’t be friends with them if they weren’t good to you.”

Something seemed to relax in Yasha’s shoulders, squeezing his hand back before they unlaced and pulled away from one another, “They’ve been worried about you, but I didn’t tell them you were at the ward.”

“Good, that’s how I plan to keep it,” Molly said, picking up another french fry, “I don’t need anyone else pitying me.” He chewed and swallowed, picking back up the burger to continue, “How’s Gustav? Anything new about him yet?”

Yasha grimaced, already a bad sign, “He says he’s got 90 days to serve. But at least the fine isn’t higher than 300 dollars.”

“ _ Gd’am’it Gus’hav, _ ” Molly groans through full cheeks.

“And now Orna’s taken over the shop with Bo.”

“ _ Ga’ _ **_dam’it_ ** _ Gus’hav! _ ” Molly groaned louder.

“And I’m sorry-”

“Mhnhm,” Molly interrupted with holding his finger up so he could swallow proper, “I’m just kidding, Orna’s not so bad. Bet its a big stroke to her ego now to be running the shop, but hey, so long as someone’s taking up the responsibility while Gustav’s-”

“Oh, no actually,” Yasha corrected, “I was saying that… Gustav wanted me to tell you that the lease on the apartment was ending at the end of January, and with him being in jail now...”

Molly’s eyes went wide, “... Oh.”

“Sorry.”

He looked down at his near-empty plate, had maybe a few bites left of the burger and just a couple left over fries. Though he was quick to try and snap his attention back up at Yasha, she basically was telling him he was about to be kicked out, “... Well damn… That sucks.”

* * *

_ The Leaky Tap _ diner was finding itself a bit busier at the lunch hour rush. On first glance around, Caduceus had seen the room filled with quite a few people. Sitting on stools at the counter, filling up the booths and most two-seater tables are taken. Though there’s no need to deliberate on where they should sit, Fjord and Beau led forward to two tables near the back, closer to where the bathrooms were. And in a rehearsed fashion they pulled chairs out from between the tables and pushed them together to make one bigger table.

Fjord and Caleb sat across from Jester and Beau, Caduceus was left taking one of the two ends, opting to sit between Caleb and Beau.

“It’s just your typical diner-style food,” Fjord says to Caduceus as he passes along the menus, “They do most anything you ask.”

“I’ve really been wanting some pancakes,” Jester flips open her laminated menu, “I highly recommend the chocolate chip pancakes! They put whipped cream on top and fresh strawberries on the side!”

There was some variety between serving any meal regardless of the time of day,  _ breakfast _ ,  _ lunch _ , and  _ dinne _ r were each given their own space on one of the tri-folds of the menu.

As Caduceus sat here and read through the options, there was a casual conversation that started up among the four of them. Recapping their mornings to one another, Jester was groaning at some new homework assignment being given and needing to have done by the end of the week, Beau luckily didn’t have to go to “practice” today, while Fjord still had to. He seemed to passively listen, but from what he was seeing, he was picking up on some mannerisms amongst each of them.

Caleb was quiet. Listening, checking his phone, he looked generally bored, yet a smile would come on his face from time to time. Clearly he was engaged, his usual resting face looked tired and distant gaze made him appear lost in thought.

Fjord was an active participant, nodding, talking. In times where he needed to emphasize a word or two, he leaned forward and projected louder. Though each time coming back to comfortably lean in his chair again.

Jester showed big emotions, evidenced by big expressions. She emoted even with her shoulders and bobbed her head a lot. Each time she did that, her dangling earrings waved and clinked, she even had a few dangling ornaments at the tips of her horn caps.

And Beau spoke a lot with her hands, they moved with a rhythm to her talking. She was also the only one to be crossing a leg to tuck under her other when sitting in the chair. These chairs were not that big, but she was just barely able to cross both legs up onto the seat. Continuing to use big hand motions even when her speaking voice was fairly calm and polite.

“-Who you guys playing up against?” Beau asks Fjord.

He gave a smirk, “Take a guess.”

Beau gave it a moment of thought, “... R.U.?”

“Bingo.”

“Ugh, could you all  _ please _ wipe the floor with those smug assholes already??”

“Hey, we’re tryin’, alright? I don’t see anyone else at EHU pulling their weight.”

“Um, pardon-” Caduceus leaned down, “What’s ‘ _ hue _ ’ exactly?”

“ _ E-H-U _ ,” Fjord properly enunciates, “ **E** rudition  **H** all  **U** niversity, it’s like our nickname.”

Caduceus blinked, “Wouldn’t those initials come out as ‘ee-hue’ then?”

“People usually assume the ‘E’ is silent,” Beau clarifies, “We get teased enough as is with people pronouncing it like ‘ew’.”

“They used to go ‘ _ Pee-hew, what’s that smell? Oh! It’s E-hew _ ’,” Fjord even pinched his nose and swatted the air.

“If the ‘E’ is silent, wouldn’t that just say ‘ _ hoo _ ’?” Caduceus tries putting together these imaginary puzzle pieces in his head.

“Well the ‘E’ is still part of the equation, it just gets moved to the end.” Fjord’s hand crosses over the other.

Now Caleb chimes into the conversation, “If the ‘E’ goes at the end instead, then it would suggest the title is ‘ _ Hall University Erudition _ ’, would it not?”

“Man, it’s what everyone else says, I didn’ come up with it myself.”

“I think Beau’s right though,” Jester jumps in, “Because if the ‘E’ is silent, then you’re left with ‘H-U’, so you get ‘hew’, not ‘hoo’!”

A pause finally fell over the table.

“... Where the hell did we get off on this conversation?” Fjord asks.

Caduceus shrugs, “I forget.”

Jester bubbles up with giggles and laughter that was infectious. Spreading to Fjord who passed it along to Beau, Caduceus was starting to grin giddily and even Caleb tried ducking his head down to hide his smirk.

* * *

Somehow the bathroom was colder than the rest of the apartment. Neither he nor Gustav had been here for a while, so with the heat turned off, it felt like stepping into a fridge. The bathroom somehow was the worst offender in that the unforgiving tile floor on the soles of his bare feet.

Preserving through the cold, Molly shaved this pitiful excuse of facial hair in favor of rubbing along his jaw and feeling nothing but smooth skin. With only skin-to-skin friction, he felt and looked better already in the gaze of the mirror.

Taking a moment to look at his own face, he fixated on the bags under his eyes. He looked tired, despite still being fairly youthful, he looked so terribly old.  _ How old am I? _ Molly questioned to himself, pulling down at the corner of his eye to examine if he had any crows feet starting.

Exasperatedly, he sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. It had grown, and while he originally wanted to grow it out, the tangles and knots made him feel frustrated. It would take some work to fix them again, condition them… Fix them…  _ This is what I looked like while I was there? _

“ ‘Ey, Yasha?” Molly calls through the door, “Think you could do something with my hair?”

A moment after, the door opened as Yasha poked in, “I’m sorry?”

“Can you cut my hair?” He asks again, taking another look in the mirror, “... Maybe we could bleach it.”

“Oh, that sounds cool,” Yasha walks up behind him, running her hand through his hair, “But are you sure? You’ve been growing this out for nearly three years.”

“I have,” He laments, “But also… I’ve been wanting to do something weird with it.”

“Would need to go to the store and buy the dye kit, how short do you want to cut it?”

Pulling out the drawer under the sink, Molly pushes aside some bottles of mousse, beard oil, and hairspray to then pull out the electric clippers, he then digs around at the bottom of the drawer to pull out a comb attachment, “Ideally, I’d shave it off and start all over.” He says as he sets the items on the rim of the sink, “But I’ll leave you with just the word:  _ short. _ ”

Yasha picked up the comb piece, scrutinizing the size under a squint, “Let’s start then with snipping before we get to clipping.”

“Should be some scissors in the kitchen,” Molly says, “When’s the next time you’re off?”

“Thursday evening I could come in, I work Friday night.”

“Then I’ll buy the dye kit before then.”

Yasha smiles as she russells Molly’s hair, “Sounds good, go ahead and wet your hair, it’ll make it easier to cut.”

After Yasha leaves, Molly takes off his shirt. Taking another look in the mirror at himself and seeing the colorful splashes of tattoos all along his shoulder and arms, he notices his bare, flat chest.  _ So…  _ **_Empty_ ** **…**

Oh hey, he’s not shivering as much anymore now. The heat seems to finally be catching up.

* * *

The snow was stacking up higher, and the streets even started to get dusted with white flakes. Jester was dropped off at home first so that Beau could drive the rest herself and the rest of the passengers back to campus. Dropping Caleb and Caduceus off back in front of their dorm before driving off to drop Fjord off last.

Returning to their dorm, Caleb was kicking his shoes off by the door when Frumpkin’s little bell jingled and he meowed happily with each little step on his prance up to Caleb.

“Aww, he missed you,” Caduceus comments as he is pulling his scarf off.

Caleb scoops up the purring Bengal and lets Frumpkin nuzzle against his stubbly cheek, “Mh, it is certainly a nice thing to come home to.”

Caduceus stepped in after Caleb, hanging up his own coat and scarf while Caleb took to plopping down on his bed. It had not gotten to be that late, and yet with the clouded sky, it felt as though the sun should already be down.

“Think we’ll have classes tomorrow?” Caduceus speculated as he picked up the small watering can.

“Ah, depends on how much longer it snows,” Caleb lets Frumpkin walk off his lap, getting a chance to properly shed his coat, “I would prefer it if they-eh-if they canceled for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s when you have art classes, right?” Caduceus’s voice carries from the bathroom as the sink runs.

“Ja, that would be correct,” Caleb lifts his sleeve to rub at his arm, trying to avoid using his nails to scratch the itch, “I am not exactly a fan of them.”

“Why’s that?” Caduceus emerged back out, just catching Caleb roll back down his sleeves, “Is there something specific you don’t like?”

Caleb shrugged, “It eludes me, they wanted us to cut out colors that are complementary, and yet, I still do it wrong. Plus, they also grade how well a job at cutting you do!”

“Cutting?”

“The little squares,” Caleb huffs as he goes and digs through his backpack, pulling out a sketchbook to where he flips open to the first few pages, “Eh, _color wheel_ , easy. But this- _ here _ !”

Caduceus pulls back from watering one of the window plants to look. In the sketchbook, there are colored blocks that are cut out and glued down on the paper, set next to each other, side-by-side.

“Hm, looks fine to me,” Caduceus tilts his head curiously.

“ _ And _ to me!” Caleb slapped the book closed and tossed it onto his bed, “I used scissors, which should be an easy, straight cut. But they insist that we get exacto-knives and use rulers.”

“Do you have an exacto-knife?” Caduceus asks.

“... No, not yet,” Caleb turns back to his backpack, rearranging the books inside to make room again for the sketchbook, “But now I need to get one.”

“Are they at the campus bookstore?”

“Should be, the bookstore carries most anything you need for any class here on campus, I would be surprised if they didn’t.”

“I saw they even have those smart pads?”

Caleb looked confused at Caduceus, “... Tablets?”

“Yeah, those,” Caduceus finished watering the last of his plants, taking a look at its leaves, “I see a lot of people using those in class. I’m surprised they’re allowed. In high school, we weren’t allowed to use any electronics unless we were in the computer lab.”

Caleb squinted at Caduceus, “Really? Senior year, we had just started using tablets in place of textbooks. And we were kinda late to the trend starting.”

Caduceus seemed all the more surprised by that, “Wow, really? How much has changed since I graduated?”

“When did you graduate?”

Caduceus took a pause, eyes looking up to the ceiling, “Uh… Ten years ago.”

There was another pause.

“... You graduated high school  _ ten _ years ago? You just started to come to college  _ this _ semester?”

Caduceus chuckled, “A little unconventional, I know. But  _ hey! _ Better late than never.”

* * *

There were going to be only a few weeks left that Molly got to sleep in this bed of his, he was going to miss this shoebox bedroom that he tried to cram all his junk in: from the hanging tapestries and posters to the unnecessary mix match pillows and overlapping rugs. His little slice of heaven, escape from this mortal coil.

Really, it was just so warm from all the insulation and had a proper window he could crack open and smoke out of without hassle of the landlord getting on their asses about having cigarettes in the apartments.

In his bedroom, he finally had the chance now to plug his phone in and start charging it.

His fingers combed through his shortened locks of hair, fewer snags from tangles and knots now. Though surely it would be a big surprise to see his hair as a shock of white instead of its natural dark violet hue.

The quiet was interrupted by the ping of his phone, then came several more pings and buzzes.

_ Oh, that’s right. _

His phone, with finally a single percentage of charge to it, was vibrating with life and going absolutely bonkers trying to catch up with so many updates.  _ Texts, missed calls, emails... _

Molly wished he was more negligent about his phone and had just lost it altogether, but he didn’t. It had no time to charge any either since he was completely deprived of it for weeks after admittance to the hospital.

With not much interest in even looking at the thing, he scrambled to unplug it. Hoping to let the notifications run their course or have the phone’s battery die off again, whichever came first.

Tonight, he wanted to be in his little isolated bedroom, in this quiet apartment, on a night that had all the sounds of the city dampened by the blanketing of snow, and he wanted to pretend for a short while that he simply  **didn’t exist** . So that maybe he could go to sleep without any care or thought given to the last few weeks of hell.

In short, Molly felt tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I wanted to get it done before last weekend, but I didn't finish until tonight. I'm gonna just have to set the precedent that this fic is purely at the will of my time between school, DM prep work, D&D games, and other social obligations which come before writing a fanfic about a buncha adults in their 20s and their problems also hanging out and having fun.
> 
> Thank you all who keep reading! I'm still interested in what I have to get to in this story, and fuck everything this is my story so Mollymauk is alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments or questions are super appreciated and I will do my best to answer!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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